WestChesTer
by Bubbiiful
Summary: Inspired by the show, 'One Tree Hill'. Follow the lives of the characters from the Clique in their junior year. A year with drama, relationships and heartbreak. [On HIATUS]
1. Character Preview

Welcome to **Westchester High**, in the wonderful NY city, of course. This year of school as always, is mixed with drama, conflicts, excitement, relationships and breakups.

Let's meet the students who attend at this very _special_ high school.

_[[1st Semester: September-January]]_

**({Juniors})**

**Derrick Harrington:** A down-to-earth guy, who had missed all the sophomore drama, due to him staying in North Carolina to take care of his sick mother. His sandy blonde hair, deep dimples and brown puppy dog eyes have caught the attention of the girls in his year and the seniors. His charm, looks, and personality has especially caught the attention of two particular girls. Unfortunately for them, he only has eyes for_ one_. He wants this year to be _memorable_, but all the irrational decisions he makes will eventually lead him into conflicts, making this year memorable for all the _wrong_ reasons.

**Claire Lyons:** Derrick's quirky and kind-hearted best friend. She knew the minute Derrick had sat next to her in grade school they would become best and lifelong friends; thanks to her intuition. She has been described as the typical 'girl-next-door' with her flowing pale blonde hair and baby blue eyes. She cancels out any stereotyping that relates to her hair colour as she is bright and studious. Claire always wanted and will be the 'Head tutor' for Westchester High. However, Claire always had the interest of acting, if she could choose; acting would always come first before anything else. But, being realistic, she knows that education and tutoring is her priority_ and_ then acting. She planned it all out since grade school, but what she didn't see coming, was _that_ certain dark black haired, cute _jock _would be in her way.

**Massie Block:** A pretty girl, with glossy dark brown hair and sparkling amber eyes. She has a talent for art, as she sketches and paints her own fashion designs in her spare time or when she's feeling down. She has a very active social life as she is co-captain of the cheerleading squad and is currently dating the most popular jock, Cam Fisher for quite some time. Although her life may seem all glitter and gold, she's often involved with numerous conflicts. Some say she is 'cold-hearted spoiled snob', as she never really even tries to interact or be open with people she meets. But what they don't know is that she has been through situations that often lead her to _heartbreak _and _tragedy_ which forced her to put up such high guards. But when she finally lets down her guards for a particular someone, she knows it already too _late_.

**Cameron 'Cam' Fisher: **He's arrogant, cocky and good-looking and he knows it. He has black mousy hair, but his distinctive trademark about his appearance is his eyes. His eyes have been said to 'beautiful' by Claire, as one is forest green and the other ocean blue. He's the star player of the soccer team and the most popular guy and jock in the school. But for the first time in his life, he's _threatened_ by another student. This_ guy_ wants his girlfriend and position on the team, but Cam won't let him have any of it as he got some tricks up his sleeves. He knows that if he starts hanging out with Derrick's best friend, Derrick would be agitated. What Cam set up to do went all wrong, as he never thought he would _develop _feelings for that pale blonde haired girl.

**Alicia Rivera: **A feisty, party girl who always_ seems_ to either face or stir up drama. She's the most popular girl in her grade and has been described to be the most beautiful girl in the entire school. She has thick, shiny raven black hair and abnormally wide dark brown eyes. She is best friends with Massie, good friends with Kristen, Cam and Kemp. She often associates herself with people she can use and manipulate such as her ex, Scott. Alicia is an accomplished dancer as she takes jazz, tap and modern dance classes which are the reasons why she had been selected to be captain of the cheerleading squad. She has been described to be a shallow, vapid and slutty person by some, but what her peers don't know is that most of the time, Alicia_ portrays_ herself to be like that. She has a crush on Derrick and thinks he's the one to finally allow someone to see the _real_ her.

**Chris 'Dynamic' Plovert: **Derrick's and Claire's close friend. He is goofy, fun and athletic. Plovert is currently on the Tomahawk's soccer team, playing the offense position. He claims that Coach called him dynamic during an important soccer match, thus, creating his own nickname for himself. His curly brown hair, crooked teeth and rectangular rimmed glasses was deemed to be 'weird' by the popular chicks, but Plovert doesn't care. As long as he has fun, this year, everything will be alright. Besides, Chris knows one day a girl will appreciate him for himself and not looks alone. And when that day comes, he knows that girl will and always be _'dynamic'_ to him.

**Kristen Gregory: **A bubbly, friendly, cute, but naive girl. She is good friends with Massie and Alicia, and friends with Cam, Dune and Kemp. She is known to be very gullible, excitable and easily impressed. Her naturally wavy dirty blonde hair and clear aqua eyes have always been envied by many. But one trait that her peers don't envy is her stupidity. She figures that's why many of her fellow students are always quick to label her as the typical 'bimbo cheerleader'. But Kristen _let's_ them be, if they have to put her down to make themselves feel better, than that's_ their_ problem. It doesn't really bother her because she knows high school _isn't_ forever.

**Kemp Hurley: **Cam's best and very loyal friend. He would do anything to protect his friends even if it resorts to physical violence. He has the tendency to wear wool caps, but underneath he has coffee brown hair and has sea blue eyes. He is depicted to be a follower as he does everything Cam does. But he does have his own personality, as he's paints himself to be the class clown, prankster and jokester. While Kemp may not be that bright, he makes it up for his athletic ability. But rumours are speculating that if he fails one more class, he's _out _of here.

({**Recurring**})

**Dune Baxter: **A fellow soccer player, he has good relations with Cam, Kemp and Plovert. He has shaggy brown hair and straight white teeth. Although he proclaims himself to be a great 'catch' for the ladies, he has an annoying habit of twirling his stupid shark teeth necklace he got from California. Dune's other annoying habit? He over tans too much; He 'claims' the tanning is natural because of all the surfing he does, while at the Hamptons. _Suurrree._

**Olivia Ryan:** She knows the popular crowd, unfortunately for her; they don't even know she exists. Even though she threw her annual end-of-the-year bash, not one popular person even knows her. She's getting desperate, maybe deep down she knows she doesn't want to become one of them, but is only doing so to please her annoying mother, who was once everything she isn't in high school. Olivia is determined that one day; she will get noticed by that crowd. Maybe she should change her sweet innocent appearance to something more drastic? After all, she did buy a lot of dark-tone makeup to piss off her mom.

**Dempsey Solomon: **The new kid in town, sadly for him, the first thing people notice about him is his _size_ and weight. Most students don't even get to know him; they avoid him as if he has been plagued by rare disease. He tends to take interest in the well-known girls, he wants to talk to them, even just to say one word, but he can't bring himself to do it. All of his life, his appearance has always played a factor of his _low_- self esteem. Dempsey, himself, doesn't think he looks that _bad_. He has green safari eyes and caramel blonde hair with highlights. If he loses weight, maybe he can finally have the confidence he so desirably needs.

**Dan 'Bill Gates' Burdock: **A technical genius, he's very skilled at computers. He's also involved with many clubs in the school such as the a.v club, computer club, yearbook club and the science club. He has jet black, but greasy hair and he's also known to have very yellow teeth. He has the potential to be 'cute', but Dan doesn't really care about popularity like his friend Dempsey. To him, being popular involves being shallow and fake, and Dan_ hates_ that. What he hates even _more_ is being _alone_, and that might come _true_, from the way Dempsey is sucking up to the in-crowd.

**...**

[(**Seniors**)]

**Landon Crane: **A friendly and sweet guy, who's determine to make the most out of his final year of high school. He's his own person, as he stands up for what he believes in and doesn't follow people like a sheep. His wavy dark brown hair and bright, clear navy blue eyes, is enough to make a girl swoon and be giddy. He's been said to be the 'perfect' guy, he treats people with respect, and he's intelligent and doesn't get into trouble. But life as you know it,_ no_ one can be perfect. He's desperately trying to keep his _secret_ away from _her_, as it could jeopardize their relationship and his future.

**Scott Moore:** Alicia's ex-boyfriend who has been described to be irritating and annoying by both Alicia and Massie. He has been said to be a hopeless romantic and needy. He's also _clueless_ as he still doesn't know that Alicia had cheated on him with his best friend, Aidan, while they were going out. He's still hopeful that him and Alicia will get back together one day, unluckily for him, he's too _blind_ to see that he's being used and manipulated.

**Sydney 'Syd' Mcfadden: **Doesn't dislike Alicia Rivera,_ despises_ her. And it's not about the cheerleading crap, that's Cara's thing. Scott was _hers_, until Rivera showed up. Now that she dumped him, he's changed; he's not the same happy-go-lucky guy Syd once knew. But whatever, Syd plans to use her theatrical skills to destroy Alicia. So that_ bitch_, better watch out.

[(**Recurring**)]

**Aidan James:** Excited that it's his last year in this school. He loves hooking up with random girls, and had no problem hooking up with his best buddy's girl. He has been described as a 'weirdo' by Massie Block.

**Cara Roe: **A member of the high school cheerleading squad. She with her close friend, Syd, dislikes Alicia as they can't stand to see a Junior being the captain of the squad.

* * *

><p>I wanted to give some sort of background for all the characters that were going to be involved in this <em>semester<em>. I'm planning to write the story in separate semesters, so I can add new characters to the plot.

I'm pulling a "Degrassi", here! ;) As you know, some characters from the novel are missing (i.e. Dylan, etc.) but they are going to be added in later semesters. Most likely 3-5 new characters for each semester!

The majority of the characters are modeled after people from the show, with the exception of the seniors, besides Landon. The seniors I made up.

Thank-you for reading and reviewing! :)


	2. Preview

_Welcome to a world where everyone talks about each other._

_Everyone lies. Everyone tries to be something they're not._

_ Nobody can keep a secret for their life & friendships that_

_have lasted years are broken. Believe it or not, this world_  
><em>actually exists. it goes by the name of high school<em>

_-XxDailyDreamxX_

_**…**  
><em>

And why shouldn't **W**est**C**hes**T**er High, not be the same? _Welcome_ to high school,_ kids_.

_{/[__**Preview**__]/}_

"_Tutor me,"_

"_No way, you're a narcissistic and cocky asshole,"_

"_Come on, I really need help. People said you're the best tutor in this high school"_

"_No,"_

"_Here I'll make you a deal; I'll stop bullying him if you tutor me,"_

"_You swear?"_

"_Swear"_

"_Fine, but if he's bullied one more time, you're on your own."_

**…**

"_I….I love you"_

"_What?"_

"_I have been in love with you since I was a kid. And for the first time in my life, I was finally able to talk to you."_

"…_..why did you have to say that? I didn't think our relationship was this important to you. I thought we were just friends"_

"_So what you're really saying is that you don't love me at all?"_

"_Yeah, I don't and I don't think I ever will."_

**…**

"_You have to come! You have to help her!"_

"_Why should I? She rejected me."_

"_Because she's in trouble, someone drugged her."_

**…**

"_Did you kiss him?"_

"…_."_

"_Answer the question! Did you kiss him?"_

"_Y-yes, I did."_

"_I have stuck with you through so much, and this is how you repay me? By being a two-face whore?"_

"_It's not like that,"_

"_It's not? You know what? Forget it. I'm tired of hearing your excuses, this friendship, it's over."_

"_You don't mean that,"_

"_Yeah, I do. And as far as I know, we don't know each other, because you're dead to me."_

**…**

"_You have to choose."_

"…_."_

"_It's either me or her, so who is it?"_

"_I can't choose between the two of you."_

"_Why not?"_

"_Because…..I chose someone else."_

**…**

"_We are such idiots."_

"_What do you expect? This is high school in Westchester, after all."_

**Some of the highlights that will happen this semester.**


	3. Let's Get It Started

_Who knows where life will take you, the road is long and in the end the journey is the destination._

_-Lucas Scott_

**…**

"First day of high school, Derrick, are you nervous?"

Derrick Harrington casually glanced at his best friend, Claire Lyons, whose baby blue eyes were filled with curiosity. He shouldn't have been as he was the one driving them to their high school, Westchester high.

"No, should I?" He went back to focus on the road. "It's not like it's my first time being in the school."

"True," Claire said, "but you missed out on a lot of things last year and that was only in the sophomore year."

"It doesn't matter. Taking care of my mother's health is more important than anything happening last year."

"Really?" Claire teased. "Well, how about the fact that the 'girl of your dreams', Massie Block is now dating the most popular jock in the school."

Derrick slammed on the brakes hard.

"Derrick!" Claire widened her eyes, "we could have smashed our heads into the windshield."

He turned to face Claire. "Massie is dating Cam Fisher?" He watched Claire nod her head up and down frantically.

Derrick scratched his head, "shit."

"Sorry Derrick," Claire frowned for the both of them. She knew that her best friend didn't like showing his emotions in public. "It was inevitable from the time Olivia Ryan threw her annual 'The End of the Year' bash. You know how Cam likes going for the popular girls."

Claire put her hand on Derrick's arm for reassurance as he started driving again. "Who knows? Maybe they'll break up. Cam Fisher is an asshole anyways."

Exchange of words began to die down as Derrick continued to drive the both of them to the high school. Derrick turned left where the high school was and pulled into an empty space.

"We're here." He mumbled. Derrick opened his door and turned around to grab his shoulder bag.

As he slung his bag over his shoulder, Claire grabbed him by his waist to pull in for a friendly hug, "Derrick Harrington stop bitching about Massie. Today is a new day and New Year. Anything can happen, remember that."

For the first time that morning, he managed a smile, "Lyons, you're right." He adjusted his shoulder bag and threw his arm over Claire's shoulder, "I'm not holding back this year. Junior year will be most memorable year of our lives."

"Now you're talking" Claire giggled, as they headed for the metal door that would welcome them to their junior year.

**…**

"See you later, Mass." Cam Fisher playfully slapped Massie Block's ass as his way of showing goodbye.

No matter how many times she told him not to, Cam refused to listen to her.

Massie sighed in defeat and headed to her locker to retrieve her chemistry textbook. When she arrived there, she was pleasantly surprise to see her best friend Alicia Rivera already there.

"Took you long enough," Alicia said flipping her shiny black hair across her shoulder.

"Sorry," Massie began to dial her lock, "Oh-three, twenty-two and zero". She quickly opened her locker.

As she reached for her textbook, she felt a smack on her arm.

"Oh my god, 'tutor' girl, Claire Lyons has a boyfriend." Alicia gasped. "She isn't even that pretty." Massie couldn't help notice there was a tone of envy in her best friend's voice.

Massie moved her head to the right where Alicia was facing, what she saw wasn't a surprise to her. She stared at Claire, who had her arms around, a pretty good looking guy who had blonde hair.

Massie laughed, "I think those two been going out since they entered high school."

Alicia bit her lower lip, "really? How come I never noticed him before?" She licked her lips, "he's pretty hot. I can't believe a guy that looks like him would go out with _her_." She reapplied her lips with pink shimmery lip gloss. "He's totally my type, hot, hot and hot."

"I think his name is 'Derrick Harrington'," Massie paused, "I noticed him since ninth grade, but for some reason he wasn't here last year." She, like Alicia, was now focusing all her attention towards Claire and Derrick. For a second, Massie thought Derrick shot her a friendly smile, but she quickly moved her head away, to face Alicia instead.

"Well, this Derrick, will have the best year of his life starting today." Alicia proudly stuck her chest out and flashed a cocky smile.

"Why is that?" Massie asked, while raising her eyebrows.

"Because I'm going to go out with him," Alicia rolled her eyes, "he'd be an idiot to refuse that kind of offer."

Massie studied her best friend. From all the girls in their year, she had to say Alicia was the prettiest hands down. But despite being beautiful, Massie wasn't so sure if her best friend had the charm to 'woo' Derrick over Claire.

"Watch this," Alicia demanded. She grabbed Massie's sleeve to pull her in as she forced the both of them to walk near Derrick and Claire.

"Perfect," Alicia whispered to Massie, Derrick and Claire were now walking forward were they were.

Alicia purposely gave Derrick little room to walk, which resulted into a collision.

Papers and textbooks landed everywhere on the floor.

"Oh my god!" Alicia put her hand in front of her mouth for the 'shock' factor, she bent down where Derrick was and gave him her most irresistible smile she could, "sorry about that."

Derrick laughed, "it's okay," he looked up towards Claire, "Claire you better go to class first."

Claire smiled; "yeah sure,"

Alicia couldn't believe how dismissive she was. She also couldn't help notice that the pale blonde kept shifting glances between Derrick and Massie.

Alicia raised her eyebrows towards Massie, "You better go too Mass."

Massie gave her a playful eye roll, "See you at lunch, Leesh."

For a moment, Alicia thought she saw a frown on Derrick's face as Massie left, but she quickly dismissed it. This was the perfect time to make her move.

While searching for her own papers because of the mix up, Alicia stole glances to check out Derrick. He had freckles on his face and two adorable dimples. Check, check and check, she had three goals this year. Alicia assured herself she would make Derrick fall for her, become his girlfriend and make him lose his virginity to her.

"I think I got everything," Derrick stood up, "how about you?"

"Yeah same," Alicia gave him a coy smile, "thanks for helping me," she purred. She looked up to him and batted her long eyelashes at him, "If you don't mind, can you help me up?" She lifted her toned arm to him.

On cue, Derrick grabbed her arm and lifted her up, gently, much to her surprise. Whenever Alicia pulled that trick, most guys would have lifted her up roughly.

She smiled at him, "its Derrick, right?" Alicia grabbed a section of her hair and pulled it to her right side, and began to twirl the section of hair with her finger.

Derrick nodded, "Alicia Rivera," he stopped for a moment, "I don't think I ever spoke to you before."

"Well, this must be your _lucky_ day." Alicia flirted, "I think this is my first time speaking to you too, Derrick Harrington."

Alicia displayed a toothy smile, when she heard Derrick laugh whole-heartedly. She watched him comb his sandy blonde hair with his fingers.

"Not to be rude or anything, but I better get to class." Derrick waved at his watch and pointed to the time, "what do you have right now?"

"Right now?" Alicia fished out her schedule from her purse, "I have History right now. Do you?"

"No, I have Chemistry right now." Derrick smiled at her, "which sucks, because normally, the people I know never take the science courses."

Alicia pouted, "Were not in the same class." She began to put her arms around his, "maybe I'll transfer into your class instead." She added a wink.

Derrick politely smiled and gently pushed Alicia's arm off him, "I better go, I'll see you around." He turned away and walked right passed her.

Quickly reacting, Alicia took out her Iphone and texted Massie.

**Alicia: Mass, Derrick's in YOUR Chem class. Talk to him and figure out what he likes in girls. Oh, and bring me up too. ;)**

**…**

Massie sighed in relief, as she took a seat in the back row. She had made it to class on time. She searched the classroom to see if she knew anyone in her class.

Despite being labelled as the stereotypical popular cheerleader by some of her peers, Massie loved learning about science and wasn't afraid to show the 'bookworm' side of her.

Like she predicted, she didn't know anyone in her class, none of her in-crowd friends didn't want to take any science courses with her, so for the rest of the year, Massie knew she would be alone in most of her classes.

She spoke too soon.

In came Derrick Harrington, searching for an available seat. She noticed he finally spotted one, which was the seat beside her, the only one left.

Massie watched him plopped right beside her, she discreetly checked him out. Alicia, was right, Derrick was…hot.

He had cute dimples, nice, soft blonde hair, leaned muscles, a cool ha-

"Did the teacher come yet?" Derrick asked, at the same time breaking her thoughts about him.

Massie blushed, "No not yet." She hoped that he didn't notice her blushing and checking him out. Massie threw her brown hair to her right, hoping it would cover her blushing cheeks.

She picked up her LV purse from the ground to search for a pencil, as their Chemistry teacher, Mrs. Dunkel, finally came into the classroom.

Sighing, Massie remembered she left her pencil case on top of her bed.

She turned to him, "Can I borrow a pencil, Derrick?"

Derrick widened his eyes in surprise; "Sure," He reached over to his pencil case and slid it over towards Massie.

"Thanks," Massie gave him a small smile, but then confusion was written on her face. "Wait, why do you sound so surprise?"

"Oh" Derrick coughed to clear his throat, "I didn't think you would know my name, since…"

"Since, what?" Massie clenched her fists; she was getting tired of people viewing her as a typical popular bimbo.

"Well, because…." Derrick's voice trailed off.

"Is it because I'm a cheerleader?" Massie voice hardened, she shook her head, "just because I'm a cheerleader doesn't mean I don't know –"

"No, it's not that." He cut her off, "I didn't think you would notice me."

Massie fell silent. She finally looked at him directly into his eyes, "I'm different from most people."

Derrick stared at her and grinned, "You always seemed different from the others." He paused for a moment; he wanted to say the right thing. "Different is good."

"Yeah" She blinked a few times, "it is." She grinned back, "You're different too."

"Thanks?" He smirked at her, causing her to turn red again.

Massie was about to ask Derrick a question, but was interrupted by Mrs. Dunkel. Class had begun.

As she zoned in and out of the lecture, Massie felt Derrick looking at her a few times. She tried to ignore him the best she could.

When Mrs. Dunkel went through the definitions of 'proton', 'electrons' and 'neutrons', Massie felt her phone vibrate. She reached for her cellphone from her pocket; she read Alicia's text; Massie typed in 'sure' and sent the text.

No matter what the situation was Massie would always help Alicia out, as she knew her best friend would do the same. This time, Alicia wanted Massie gain information about Derrick Harrington which would be no problem,

It wasn't going to be that hard anyways. Derrick was actually pretty easy to talk to and most guys she introduced to Alicia would immediately like her and Massie hoped Derrick would do the same.

**…**

"So, did you have a chance to talk to her?" Claire asked loudly, normally, the librarian would have shushed her, but since Claire and Derrick have been volunteering at the library for some quite time, they were granted with special privileges

"Yeah," Derrick looked up from the magazine he was reading and threw it on the table.

"What happen?" Claire put down her book as well and faced Derrick. "Does she know you're devoted love for her?" She laughed out loud, but stopped when Derrick made a face.

"No," Derrick glared at his best friend, "but we did talk about how different we are from others."

"Different?" Claire shot him a confused look, "is that a bad thing?"

He shook his head, "the way she said it to me, was like a compliment." Derrick grinned at the memory, "we talked more when Dunkel left the room, but for some reason she kept bringing up her friend, Alicia Rivera." He leaned back into the plush chair and started to frown. "Anyways how was your first class?"

Claire shuddered, "It was awful. Math should be my favourite class, but when that asshole Cam Fisher and his pig friend Kemp Hurley entered the class I knew it would be hell."

Derrick chuckled, "what happen?"

"They kept interrupting the class" Claire saw Derrick's unsatisfied face with her explanation, "plus, they kept calling me by 'tutor girl' and 'loser Lyons' in front of the class." She buried her face into her sleeves, "this year is going to be memorable for me for all the wrong reasons."

Derrick patted her on the back, "just ignored them." He began to give advice to Claire, "if you see them, walk the other way, if they- shit."

"What?" Claire uncovered her face, "what does that even mean?" She was about to ask Derrick another question, but she knew Derrick wasn't paying any attention to her. Claire whipped her head around to see what Derrick was focusing on.

"Oh," She sang, "I see."

The library doors had swung open and in came Massie Block. It appeared she was searching for someone. Claire watched the brunette walking over to _them?_ Claire was surprised, but she could tell Derrick was in shock.

"Hey," Massie smiled at the two of them and pointed to the spare chair that completed their table, "can I sit here?"

"Go ahead," Claire answered for him. She smirked at Derrick and refused to acknowledge his glare.

"Thanks," Massie pulled the chair out and sat on it. She turned to Derrick, "I was looking for you,"

Derrick perked up, "you were?"

"Yeah," Massie pulled on her strand of hair and tucked it behind her ear, "I was wondering if you would like to eat lunch together?" She immediately turned to Claire, "You're invited as well, Claire."

"Oh, uh, um" Derrick stuttered for a bit and looked at Claire, "do you want to?"

"Well, I can't" Claire boasted, "but Derrick aren't you _usually free_ during _lunch_?" She widened her eyes innocently.

Derrick clenched his teeth, "_Claire_," he said in a warning tone, he smiled at Massie, "I'm usually free, but today I'm going to eat lunch with Claire." He kept on smiling even though Claire was kicking him on the shin roughly.

"Oh," Massie frowned, "that's too bad." She opened her notebook and scribbled something in very quickly. "You guys are so cute together. I like how you guys can't stand be separating from each other." She giggled.

Claire laughed out loud, "You think were together?"

"Well, aren't you? You guys are always together when I see you guys."

"No, were just best friends." Derrick explained. "even if she's annoying-"

"And you're an ass sometimes," Claire added.

"And even if she's known as 'tutor girl' and 'loser Lyons'" Derrick sneered, "she's my best friend. How long has it been? Yeah, we knew each other since we were ten."

Claire folded her arms across her chest and sulked, "Shut up, _Derrington_."

"Sorry about that," Massie gave her a sympathetic smile, "Cam told me about what he did in math. He can be rude at times, but if you get to know him he's really sweet."

"Rea-lly?" Claire muttered. She decided to change the topic as Massie was giving her a look. "So, don't you have class right now?"

"No. I have a spare."

Derrick leaned forward, "No kidding?" Massie gave him a nod. "So do I."

Massie laughed, "I guess we'll be seeing each other a lot." She stood up from the table, "I got to go, Cam just texted me." Derrick and Claire watched her gather her things and shove it in her purse.

After watching the brunette push the doors that lead her out of the hallway, Claire began to giggle.

"What' so funny Lyons?" This time, Derrick kicked her under the table.

"You're so obvious, D. Why are you even bothering to 'play the hard to get' thing?" Claire rolled her eyes, "I'm surprised she hasn't noticed yet." Claire retrieved her book from the table, "I actually think she would go for you, if she wasn't already with Fisher."

"Hey, I didn't want to leave my 'BFF' alone," Derrick said sarcastically-"she invited both of us" Claire interrupted. Derrick sighed and grabbed another magazine, "I didn't want to eat with her, _yet_. Not today anyways. Besides, I think you might be right, if she wasn't with Fisher I think she would take an interest in me."

"Sure, whatever you say." Claire waved him off not paying any attention to him. In return, Derrick threw the magazine at her head.

"Hey!"

**…**

While waiting for Cam to meet up with her outside the library, Massie excitedly grabbed her phone out her pocket and texted Alicia.

**Massie: Great news Leesh. D & C aren't even bf/gf. They're just best friends. Even better, he has a spare at the same time as me. I can find out even more info for you. You have a great chance. ;)**

Massie smiled triumphantly, after this situation, she knew her and Alicia would become even better friends.

**…**

"So crowded," Claire groaned, she followed Derrick as he led the way to their usual lunch table. "And noisy, too."

"What do you expect?" Derrick asked, once they settled into their seats, "it is the first day."

"Well I actu-"Claire stopped herself, as the two of them were approached by a familiar presence.

"Derrick?" Chris Plovert, an old friend of theirs, came up to the table. Chris pushed his glasses frame against his bridge to keep it from falling. His crooked teeth showed as he smiled, "I heard you came back, man." Chris's hand met with Derrick's and they then exchanged a pat on the back. "Good to see you, it wasn't the same without you here, last year, man."

Claire fake-pouted, "Hey, what about me Plov?" She pinched Chris on the arm and gave him a little push, "I was here last year."

"You know what I mean Claire." Chris snickered, "I can talk to you, but there are things that can only be spoken between guys."

"The 'Bro-Code'?" Claire sarcastically asked.

"Exactly," Chris winked playfully, only to be hit once again by Claire.

When Chris and Claire's playful bickering and teasing had ended, Derrick decided it was the right time to jump into the conversation.

"Good to see you too, Bro." Derrick smacked Chris on the other arm, "you still in soccer?"

"Do you even need to ask?" Chris scoffed, "I'm so good at it that I made up a new name fcor myself." He shifted his focus to Claire, "you did tell him right?"

Derrick looked up and made a face, "a new name?" He faced Claire and raised his eyebrows.

"First of all," Claire tapped the table with her fingers, "No, I didn't. It's such a, how should I say this?" She gave a small tight smile to Chris, "A _stupid_ name." Claire then pointed at the two of them, "and secondly, if I did, you two would have made up a 'nickname' for me by now."

"Well, it's better than 'tutor girl' and 'loser Lyons," Chris smiled back, causing Claire to scowl.

"Both of you shut up." Derrick demanded, "Plovert, new name is?"

Chris smiled proudly and stood up tall, "my new name is Chris 'Dynamic' Plovert." His grin seemed so wide that it stretched from ear to ear. "I got the idea, when coach kept calling me dynamic after going against the grey hawks' star player." He took the seat beside Claire, "so from now on, I would like you guys to call me, 'Dynamic'."

Derrick looked at Claire, "I don't think it's that bad of a name." He laughed, "It kind of matches you Plovert,"

"Exactl—"

"But I'm going to stick Plovert or Chris." Derrick said, "I'm used to it,"

"Yeah….me too," Claire chimed in quickly.

Chris shook his head disappointingly, "you guys sucks," He laughed along with them, "Someday someone will call me by that name." He then took out his lunch and began to dig in his sandwich, "so Derrick, are you finally going to join the soccer team? You would be good at it and tryouts are tomorrow."

"Nah, soccer isn't really my thing," Derrick shook his head, "I'm more into basketball."

"Well sucks for you," Chris sneered, "the team is already full, and the tryouts for basketball were way back in June." He pounded on the aluminum table with his fist, "Come on, there are positions that need to be filled. I think you would really be good at center or the goalie position."

"I'll pass."

"If you do join," Chris grinned sinisterly, "Massie Block will be there to cheer you on. Did you know that?"

Derrick stopped himself from taking a bite from his lunch, "Massie?"

"Yeah, when there's a game, the cheerleaders are always there."

Derrick looked down at the table and looked over where Massie was. "I'll think about it."

Claire smirked, "Ooh, Chris I think you just convinced Harrington." She and Chris doubled in laughter as Derrick turned into a shade of red, "Derrick you should join. This way you're more rounded for college."

"I said I'll think about it."

"Well you should." Claire leaned forward to Derrick, and ignoring Chris, "if you join, it would probably make this year memorable."

"Hey," Chris snapped his finger, "you two, don't leave me out of the conversation." He mimicked Claire and leaned forward towards Derrick, "you have been in love with Massie Block for a while now. How do you know she'll end up with you?"

Like his friends, he leaned forward, "because she will." Derrick simply said.

* * *

><p><strong>Disclaimer: Lisi Harrison owns the clique.<strong>

**Inspired by the show 'One Tree Hill'. If you watch it, try and guess which character is suppose to be modeled after.** **:)**

**Read and review please.**

**Title by Black Eyed Peas' song: 'Let's Get It Started'**


	4. Comes and Goes

_There are moments in our lives when we find ourselves at a crossroad, afraid, confused, without a roadmap. The choices we make in those moments can define the rest of our days. Of course when faced with the unknown, most of us prefer to turn around and go back_

_-Lucas Scott_

**...**

"Alicia," Kristen Gregory, a fellow cheerleader and good friend, gushed, "You are soooo right, Derrick Harrington is so fine" She fluttered her mascara- covered eyelashes, "He's such a babe." She turned around to stare at him and Claire who were at the opposite end of the cafeteria. Kristen brought her hands up and began fanning herself, "I can't believe we didn't notice him before."

"I know, right?" Alicia opened her purse to get her packed lunch out. "And Mass, here, will obtain information about him, so I can get Derrick to like me." She tapped Massie on the side of her head.

"Well, I already got information from him." Massie said, "He and Claire aren't even going out. They're only best friends; in fact they knew each other for six years now."

"Wow," Kristen was in awe, "that's like longer than you two have known each other." She held up two fingers and pointed to Massie and Alicia.

"Kristen," Alicia said in a deadpanned tone of voice, "Massie and I knew each other since we were eight. That makes it's to a total of eight years, which is longer than six." She rolled her eyes, "I swear to god, do you still watch the 'Sesame Street'?"

Shifting her body uncomfortably, Kristen leaned forward towards the both of them, "actually, yeah I do." Her aqua eyes were dancing, "it brings back good childhood memories." She shrugged her shoulders and began to snort.

Massie laughed along with her. Kristen wasn't the smartest person, but no matter what type of conversation or situation she was in, she always managed to make it brighter, opened and fun. That was a quality Massie enjoyed about her and was jealous of.

"Stupid as a rock," Alicia muttered loud enough for only Massie to hear. She couldn't help it, Alicia enjoyed Kristen as a great friend, but her stupidity was frustrating to deal with.

"Anyways," Kristen grabbed her wavy dirty blonde hair away from her face, tying it into a bun. "Leesh, do we still have cheer practice?"

"Given," Alicia said with a huff, "is there really any point of asking?" She rolled her eyes at Kristen, "we need to start rehearsing again tomorrow." Alicia paused in time to give her famous coy smile, "besides we can watch the guys try out for soccer tomorrow anyways."

"You're such a great captain Leesh," Kristen smiled at her and turned her gaze towards Massie and began to pout, "are you sure your busy, Mass?"

Massie nodded, "I'm sure." She put down her plastic fork, "The art show that I'm going to conflicts with practice and it's the last day too."

Alicia smirked, "But you'll miss all the hot guys trying out for soccer." She then gave Massie her best puppy dog face, "I need you there. Every captain needs their co-captain to be with them."

"Sorry, Leesh," Massie smirked back, "But the art show is way better than checking out other guys. Besides, I already have Cam." She playfully stuck out her tongue, forcing Alicia to pinch her arms.

After she finished pinching her, Alicia stared directly at her friend, "Mass, it's okay to check on other guys even if you're with Cam." Alicia tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ear, "I mean when I was with Scott, I 'checked' out his friend Aidan even though he knew Scott and I were an item." She winked at her friends, "If you know what I mean."

Massie sighed, she didn't want to hear one of Alicia's 'Having a secret fling even though you're already in a relationship' speeches, she was relieved when Kristen interjected.

"Well, speaking of 'hot guys'," Kristen grinned, "Look at the guy who just approached Derrick and Claire's table." She pointed to them.

Alicia and Massie whipped their head around to see what Kristen was talking about. There they saw a slightly tanned guy with curly brown hair, who wore glasses, standing above Derrick and Claire. They watched the guy chatted with Derrick and Claire.

"Oh," Alicia turned back to face Kristen, sounding not at least impressed, "he's not _that_ hot."

"Yeah he is," Kristen argued, "I think his name is Chris Plovert." She sighed dreamily, "He's such a hottie."

"You're easily impressed aren't you, Kris?" Alicia sneered. "Well, at least you're open about your opinions." She looked directly at Massie as she said that.

"What?" Massie widened her amber eyes in surprise.

"Don't give me that look," Alicia folded her arms, "I mean it took you at least a year and a half for you to open up to me when we first met. Plus, I had no idea you were even into Cam until you guys started going out together five months ago." She rubbed her hands together, "and even now, you never mention how you and Cam are doing or if he's hot and stuff."

Massie clucked her tongue, "Do I have to mention every detail?" She looked at Kristen for support, but her friend was too distracted by Chris Plovert.

"Well, you should." Alicia grabbed her arms, and began to whisper so Kristen wouldn't hear them, "best friends tell everything to each other."

"I do."

Alicia let go off Massie's arm and clapped her hands together, "Okay, Mass, then let's play a game to see how open you really are."

Alicia raised her eyebrows, "You have to describe the guy whose name I say in one word."

"Can I play too?" Kristen asked excitedly.

"No, this is only for Massie." Alicia tapped her fingers onto her chin, "Hmm, okay, Cam."

"Cute," Massie said in an obvious tone.

"Scott?"

"Your ex?" Massie crinkled her nose at Alicia who nodded her head, "annoying,"

"Aidan?"

"Weird"

Alicia gave her a look, but carried on questioning her, "Kemp"

"Hilarious,"

"Hey, how about Chris?" Kristen added. She smiled at Massie.

"Uh, average?"

"Average?" Kristen looked confused, "Don't tell me you don't think he's hot like Leesh said."

"I don't know, I don't even know the guy." Massie laughed, "That's the first word that popped up in my head."

Alicia cleared her throat to get their attention back, "how about Dempsey Solomon?"

"Who?" Massie and Kristen said at the same time.

"Never mind, some new overweight guy," Alicia waved her hand, "one last person." She tapped her glittery painted nails against her pore-free chin, "I know!" She smiled coyly, "Derrick Harrington."

"Derrick?" Massie asked, she thought about just one word, but many came up. Words that came up were such as _smart, genuine, good-looking, different, amusing and interesting _in her mind.

"Well?" Alicia tapped her fingers some more, and sang, "Were waiting."

_Unique, unique, unique_ the word popped into Massie's mind, but her mouth slipped up and said something entirely different, "G-gorgeous,"

Massie blinked, slowly and then she began to blink rapidly. Did she just say what she said?

"Gorgeous?" Alicia eyes bulged, but she gave a small smile, "I thought you only had eyes for Cam," She gave her best genuine giggle, "nice, Massie. It seems you like to check out other guys as well."

"Leesh," Massie pursed her lip, "it just came out. It doesn't mean anything." She gave her friend a reassuring smile, "I'm with Cam."

Alicia fake-smiled, "I know," but secretly made a mental note to herself. Massie was never the type to give her opinions about anyone, _anyone_, she had just met.

It seemed that Derrick made an impression on her best friend. And that worried Alicia. The last time the both of them liked a guy was when they were in ninth grade. They competed to vie the affection of Cam's older brother, Harris Fisher, who was a senior that time. They almost broke off their friendship forever because of all the fighting, gossip and backstabbing they had done to each other. And there was no way; Alicia ever wanted that to happen again.

"Well," Alicia said dramatically and loudly, after thinking about the past, "I know I _like_ Derrick Harrington," She looked at her friends, "and eventually, by the end of this year, he will like me."

She got up from the table, leading her friends to the door that lead out to the hallway and smiled jubilantly, she called dibs on Derrick Harrington before anyone else, and her friends were witnesses. Besides, it wasn't there really the need for dibbing on Derrick, Alicia just wanted to make sure it was loud and clear that Derrick was hers and nobody should get in the way. Nobody should, especially _Massie._

**...**

"Please relax, Miss Lyons," Principal Burns gawked at her, "You're not in trouble. I just need to ask you for a favour."

"Oh, okay," Claire sighed, it was already five minutes into the next period, Claire would have took this time to find a seat in her next class, which was English. She settled more comfortably into the office seat that Principal Burns had offered her since she was told she wasn't in trouble.

"As you know," Principal Burns paused thoughtfully, "many of the seniors this year will be graduating. Unfortunately, most of them are in the same tutoring program like you, Miss Lyons."

"Okay,"

"Well, I wonder if you would like to have the honour of becoming the head tutor next year." Principal Burns peered over her oval shaped glasses to make eye contact with Claire, "you would be in charge of giving the volunteers their schedules and at the same time, your application for college will look fantastic among your peers if you do take this offer."

Claire gasped, "I don't know what to say, Principal Burns." She opened her mouth widely, she was still in shock. "I'll do it."

"Great, but this means you have to take more time after school tutoring this year as well."

Claire laughed, "It's no problem." She got up from her seat and extended her hand towards the principal for a handshake, "thank-you."

"You're very welcome," Principal Burns said, as she met with the handshake as well, "you better get to class, now."

Claire speed walked down the hallway, she already missed the first ten minutes of English. She hated if she got an awful seat.

She opened the door as soon as she got to her English class. But she groaned as she saw one of the two available seats where at the back.

"Good to see you," Mr. Myner, the teacher said, he scanned his attendance sheet to see who wasn't checked off, yet, "ah, Miss Lyons, unfortunately for you, the only seats left are in the back row. Please hurry and settle down."

As Claire sat down, the door opened yet again.

She swore under her breathe, "Shit."

The person came in after her in just minutes, was none other than Cameron 'Cam' Fisher.

"Mr. Fisher," Mr. Myner voice became wary, "finally, nice to see you come in. Please take the remaining seat at the back beside the Miss Claire Lyons,"

"Miss Claire Lyons?" Cam looked around the room looking very confused and began to laugh, "Who the hell is that?"

Mr. Myner became impatient, "the lovely young lady at the back," He pointed at Claire with his index finger.

"Ooh," Cam snickered, "you mean 'tutor girl'," He said loudly, causing the class to erupt in laughter.

Claire could feel her cheeks go warm, she shrunk her posture.

"Okay," Mr. Myner said sternly, "that's enough. Go to your seat."

Cam obeyed Mr. Myner and sat in his seat. As Mr. Myner began to continue where he left off in the lecture, Cam leaned over to Claire.

"Psst," Cam whispered, "hey," He gave her a chin nod, "'tutor girl', sup?"

She ignored him, but it was hard. Claire never felt such an intense stare before, but she understood why. Cam had well, _beautiful _eyes. One was a deep sea blue and the other forest green. She wondered why she never noticed them before.

"You're going to ignore me?" Cam jeered, "Hey, man. I'm trying to make conversation with you. At least have the decency to talk to me back."

Claire clenched her teeth, "Yeah, well, _honestly_, I don't want to talk to you." She turned to him to give him a nasty glare, "I don't associate myself with your kind,"

He laughed at loud; his black mousy hair shook as he did. Cam began to mock Claire's angry tone of voice, "Same here. I don't usually associate myself with your kind. But, I have too, since you sit beside me." Cam snickered, "I didn't know 'Loser Lyons' was so feisty." He looked at the ceiling and then back to her, he continued to talk, "to me, you always look like a wimp."

This time, Claire clenched her fists, "Well, to me, you're always an ass." She rolled her eyes at him as a signal to end the conversation, but it didn't.

"That wouldn't be the first time I heard that I'm an ass." Cam said, he then grinned sinisterly, "I thought you weren't the type to judge someone you didn't know." He tapped his HB pencil onto his desk, "well if I'm an ass, you know what you are?" He looked at her expectantly.

Claire felt her eyes twitch; she couldn't believe that Cam was still trying to talk to her.

Cam smiled at her sincerely and poked her on the side of the arm roughly, to get her attention. "You're a bitch." He finally faced forward to pay attention to Mr. Myner.

Claire sat in her seat, dumbfounded. No guy ever called her a 'bitch' to her before. She felt anger rising to her chest. She wanted to sock Cam in the face, until he had a black eye. But she kept her anger in and pretended he didn't bother her.

The two sat motionless for the next thirty-seven minutes for the bell to ring. As it did, Cam slung his backpack over his shoulder and left in a hurry.

Claire sighed; she went up to Mr. Myner. "Is it okay if I switch seats for the class?"

Mr. Myner gave her a small smile, "I know how you feel Claire." He put his hand on her shoulders, "I taught Mr. Fisher before."

She gave him a hopeful smile. "So is it possible?"

"Unfortunately, I think everyone is settled into their seats right now, Miss Lyons." He gave her a pitied-frown, "Sorry you'll have to stay in the same seat."

She huffed; "well" Claire said dejectedly, "it was worth a shot." She turned to leave, but stopped as her teacher called after her.

"Claire," said, "I know right now, the two of you might not get along," He smiled at her, "you might not like each other, hey, you might even hate each other right now. However, once you get to know someone you might end up liking them."

Claire laughed, "Me and Cam?"

"Yes, you and Mr. Fisher might even get along one day, but only if you truly get to know him. And he gets to know you."

"I seriously doubt it."

"Why?"

Claire kicked her heels, "We are too different from each other." She clutched her books she didn't want to play 'Dr. Phil', with her English teacher right now, "I should really get going Mr. Myner."

He waved her off, "Go ahead."

"Oh, but I do have one question," Claire said, before stepping out of the classroom.

"Yes?"

"Why are you so sure that if I get to know someone, in this case, Cam, I'll end up getting along with him?"

"That's easy." Mr. Myner said with a chuckle, "Because that's how my wife and I met."

**…**

"So you are going to try out tomorrow, right?" Chris Plovert asked, once they were in front of the doorway for their French class. "Come on, dude." he socked Derrick on the right arm.

"Yes." Derrick said with an attitude, "Stop pestering me. I'll do it."

"Good," Chris had a satisfied smile on his face, "I just needed to make sure." He looked at his schedule that he had taken out. "Oh shit." Chris made a face, "we have Dingle for French."

Derrick shrugged, "that's not a big deal."

"Well, for me it is." Chris sulked, "that guy never liked me."

Derrick let out a little cough and then smirked, "Aren't you the one who always makes fun of his accent?" He and Chris now became unaware they were now blocking other students from entering the door as they chatted back and before.

"What?" Chris questioned, he widened his eyes, "sorry man, but I think it's freakin' hilarious." He began to mimic Dingle's horrendous posture and came up with his best impersonation accent. "Bonjourrrrr, class."

Derrick snickered aloud, "Shut up Plov, he might come any minute."

"That would be an excellent idea, to listen to your friend. Monsieur Plovert." A voice with an accent came from behind.

Both Derrick and Chris froze in place and slowly turned around to face the wrath of Mr. Dingle. Instead, they found themselves facing Kemp Hurley, sniggering.

"Got you, Plovert." Kemp flashed the two of them a mischievous grin, "You're not the only one who can impersonate Dingle." He smacked his hand against Plovert's as a greeting.

"I got to admit, that was pretty damn good." Chris grinned back.

"Yeah it was." Derrick agreed. He realized that this was the first time he spoke to Cam's best friend in person. Usually, the two would walk past each other without a word being exchanged.

Kemp tilted his head towards Derrick and then looked back at Chris as a gesture of asking 'who's the freak who just talked to me?'

"Oh," Chris picked up the hidden message right away. He coughed to clear his throat, "Kemp, this is Derrick Harrington," He pointed at Derrick and then pointed towards Kemp, "And Derrick, this is Kemp Hurley."

Kemp nodded his head to Derrick and gave his usual greeting gesture to him, a smack against the palms. "I've seen you around, before."

"Same here," Derrick leveled his right arm with his left after smacking palms with Kemp.

"So," Chris said, trying to make the conversation flow, "Kemp," He pointed to his sandy blonde friend with his fingers, "Derrick over here is going to try out for soccer, so he can be on the team with us."

"Really?" Kemp began to sound interested, "we do need new players. What position are you going for?"

"Well," Derrick held onto his shoulder bag strap tightly, "I was thinking of going for goalie or the forward."

"Forward?" Kemp shot a look at Chris, who looked away. "No man, I think you should stick with trying out for the goalie position. The forward position is already taken."

"By who?" This time Derrick began to sound genuinely interested for the first time of the conversation. "I mean, if there are tryouts for every position, there's no guarantee that the position is taken."

Kemp scratched behind his ear awkwardly, "Yeah it _is_." He said in a cocky attitude. "Cam Fisher has been playing the forward position for years now." He began to adjust his wool cap, "No offence, but you don't have a chance of getting that position even if you tried. Coach has been saying that Cam has been his best forward player for a long time."

Derrick flared his nostrils. He started to become a bit angry. Derrick knew he was good at soccer and he knew he had the skills to play the center. Kemp was beginning to piss him off with his superior tone about Cam's skills at being the forward.

Derrick opened his mouth to shoot a comeback, but Chris knowing his friend all too well, interjected, and quickly changed the subject.

"So, Kemp," Chris quickly chimed in, "You here in this class alone?"

"No," Kemp scrunched his face in confusion, "the girls are in the washroom right now."

"Girls?" Chris looked alarmed, "who?"

A delicate and soft voice answered for him. "Who else?"

"Oh," Kemp gave a silly grin, "they _were_ in the washroom."

Chris and Derrick lurch their heads forward to see Alicia Rivera sashay her way beside Kemp. A blonde girl with wavy hair was beside her, that both Chris and Derrick never seen before.

"OMG," The blonde girl cried, "Leesh, _he's_ in our class." She nudged Alicia in the arms, only to be ignored. "Hello? Leesh," the girl rolled her eyes, "don't ignore me." She pouted at her friend.

"Kristen," Alicia barked, "I left my makeup bag in the washroom." She turned to face her friend and gave her the sweetest smile she possibly could, "can you go get it for me?"

"But-"

"Now," Alicia said dryly.

Once Kristen had flounced off to retrieve Alicia's makeup bag, Alicia smiled at Derrick and Chris. "Sorry about that. My friend has been hit in the head a few times in her lifetime." She pointed at her head and then giggled, "If you know what I mean."

"Oh, no prob," Chris said, while shoving his hands in his jean pockets, "she seemed pretty…..nice." He raised his eyebrows and introduced himself, "I'm Chris Plovert," Chris then grabbed Derrick by the shoulders, "and this is Derrick Harrington."

"I know who Derrick is," Alicia said with a toothy smile, her eyes shifted away from Chris and onto Derrick. She widened her already abnormal large eyes and softly spoke to him directly, "I didn't think you and I would have a class together."

"Well," Derrick shrugged trying to make the best out of a conversation, "here we are."

"I guess French will be my favorite class after all." Alicia openly flirted, "you-"

"Mes amis," A loud voice interrupted, heads turned around to see who it was. This time, the real Mr. Dingle appeared with stacks of paper underneath his arms, "la classe est commencé, trouvé un siège s'il vous plaît "

Mr. Dingle stopped talking as he saw his students blank faces, he sighed and translated, "the class is starting, please find a seat."

Kemp, Alicia, Derrick and Chris scurried to find a seat. As Derrick pulled a seat out and put his shoulder bag to save a spot for Chris, Alicia pushed it out of the way and instead planted herself onto Chris's supposed seat.

"Mind if I sit here?" Alicia asked she gave him an innocent look as she fluttered her eyelashes.

"Well," Derrick hesitated, he turned his head to the right to see Chris sitting with Kemp, "sure, why not?"

"What took so long to give me answer?" She teased, Alicia slowly reached for Derrick's biceps and gave him a smile just for him, "I'm glad will be partners for French."

Derrick flinched, "What about your friend? Isn't she in this class as well?" He shifted in his seat nervously as Alicia started to rub her hands on his arm, "sorry, can you move your arm?" He stared directly at her, until she listened to him.

Alicia tried her best not to look shock, "oh," she moved her hand away from Derrick's arm. Alicia didn't understand Derrick; no guy would ever to tell her to stop flirting. Flirting was one of her _specialties_.

Trying to lighten the mood, Derrick turned to Alicia to start another conversation, "so where's your friend going to sit? Wouldn't she want to sit with you?"

Alicia sighed aloud, "Kristen is a bit needy, she can sit by herself for once."

Chatter began to die down as Mr. Dingle clapped his hand enthusiastically to start the class. He began to write the schedule on the whiteboard. As he finished, Mr. Dingle perched himself on the front desk, "Since it's the first day today, I'll allow myself to speak in English for the entire class."

The class hollered, only to be silence by Mr. Dingle again.

"For the first few weeks we will be going over the verbs 'to have' and 'to be' so please feel free to look back at your past notes." Mr. Dingle paused and looked around the room, "is this all the students taking French? Every year it seems that fewer students take French"

"No!" A high-pitched voice shrilled. The class turned to see Kristen Gregory running into class clutching Alicia's makeup bag, "Sorry I'm late, _Mr. Dinkle_, Alicia forgot her makeup bag and I ran back to the washroom to get it."

"It's Mr. Dingle," the French teacher pointed out.

"Oh, my bad," Kristen said, she dawdled into the class, oblivious to the fact that she was wasting time. Kristen smiled as she saw where Alicia was sitting. But then stared at Derrick, "Uh Alicia why is he in my seat?" Kristen asked looking very dazed.

Plovert and Kemp both had burst out laughing at Kristen's clueless nature, causing Mr. Dingle's wrinkles to appear as he frowned.

"Actually," Mr. Dingle announced, "I think I'll arrange the seating order."

The class groaned.

"Alphabetical order," Mr. Dingle demanded. He read from the list by students' last name. Time passed quickly as Mr. Dingle read off a pair of students names. "Next pair, Gregory and Harrington."

Kristen quickly grabbed the seat that wasn't near the window sill and shot a gleeful look at Alicia who in return, rolled her eyes.

Derrick took the seat beside Kristen and laid his shoulder bag onto the floor.

"So," Kristen said bubbly, as soon as Derrick finished putting his bag on the ground, she bounced in her seat and faced Derrick, "I guess were partners now, huh?"

"I guess so." Derrick peered at her with his brown eyes, "it was Kristen, right?"

"Yes." She smiled at him, at the same time; she smoothed out the wrinkles that were showing on her a-line skirt. "Well, Kristen Gregory to be more exact."

"Ah," Derrick nodded his head, "I'm Derrick." He stuck out his arm for a handshake.

"Oh!" Kristen giggled into her palms, "I totally know who you _are_." She looked at his hand, but continued to talk. "_We_ were discussing about you during lunch break." Kristen crinkled her j-shaped nose when she still noticed Derrick had his hand still stuck out, "Derrick, I'm not really fond with _high-fives_."

"No this isn't a gesture for a high-five….it's for a hands-" Derrick paused and lowered his hand, "wait, did you say 'we'?"

"Yup," Kristen nodded her head and pointed at herself with her index finger. "Me-"

"The next pair is Hastings and Hurley." announced, "You two will sit behind Kristen and Derrick."

"….Alicia and Massie were talking about you." Kristen once again giggled, "We saw you all the way at the other side of the cafeteria and we were discussing about how h-"

"Massie?" Derrick leaned forward towards Kristen and raised his eyebrows, "she was talking about me?" He ran his fingers through his hair, "what did she, uh, say?"

Kristen beamed, "she was. She was talking about how gor-" She stopped moving her mouth for a minute causing Derrick to be a bit nervous. Kristen looked at Derrick oddly, "wow, you're really excited."

"Yeah, I can be." Derrick took advantage of Kristen's naïve nature.

"Wow," Kristen clapped excitedly and smiled, "just like me!"

A cough came behind them. The two of them turned around to see Kemp Hurley put down his pencil from writing the schedule that was on the board.

He gave a devious look to the two of them, "He sounds more like a 'horn dog' to me, Kris."

Kemp glared at Derrick, "Dude, you do know that Massie is taken, right?"

"It isn't like that." Derrick shook his head; he tried his best to keep his composure. "I'm not into her," He lied. "We just had some classes together and I just wanted to know if I can borrow her notes." Derrick mumbled the last few words, hoping that Kemp would believe his lame lie and not notice his cheeks flushing in pink.

Kemp snickered in disbelief, "borrow notes? It's the first day of classes." He picked up his HB pencil again and tapped it against his teeth, "well, actually, Massie was always the type who wrote her notes ahead."

Derrick sighed in relief.

"But dude," Kemp squarely focused on Derrick, "whatever you and Massie have going on, just remember she's with Cam. And Cam is my best friend, and let's just say I'm very loyal to my friends."

"Plovert and Rivera these are your seats." Mr. Dingle called.

Kemp twirled his pencil with his fingers, "and when I mean 'loyal', I mean _loyal_." He shot Derrick a disgusted look, "you screw my friend over, and you have to deal with me." He jabbed Derrick with the pencil to make his threat clear. "Understood?"

Derrick bit the insides of his cheeks to keep himself from saying something that would make the situation even worse "under-"

"And finally, Ryan and Solomon take the last two desks in the back." Mr. Dingle replied.

"Under…what?" Kemp glared.

"-sto-"

"Kemp!" Kristen screeched, she screeched so loudly that Kemp jumped a bit, "you interrupted my story with Derrick."

"Kris," Kemp said, taking a deep breath, "I was trying to make myself clear to him." He was talking to Kristen, but looking at Derrick, "I just needed to make sure if Derrick_ understood_ what will happen if he messes with my friends."

"Yeah, well it can wait." Kristen waved him off. She smiled at Derrick and turned her side towards Kemp, "oh yeah, so like I was saying, Me, Alicia and Massie were talking about you." She became unaware of the growing tension between Kemp and Derrick, "so Massie was playing a game, she had to say one word that came up in her mind for every guy name who was called."

"Okay," Derrick voice trailed, he ignored Kemp's stares, but shuddered inside, as he heard the guy writing in a somewhat stabbing motion. "What happened?"

"Alicia said your name," Kristen grinned, "and Massie paused for minutes, until she came up with a word." She cocked her head to the side and chuckled, "Massie described you as 'gorgeous'."

Kemp dropped his pencil onto the table making a 'clack' sound. "What?" He squinted at the both of them in disbelief.

Derrick widened his eyes in surprise and opened his mouth widely "What?"

"Yeah I know," Kristen smiled, but all of the sudden frowned. She clasped her hands onto her mouth, "Oh no!" She looked at the guys, "Massie told me not to say anything about that. But I forgot." Kristen gave them a pleading look, "Promise me you guys won't say anything to her?"

She watched them nod their heads, "Oh, good." Relief was written on her face. Kristen faced the front in time to listen to Mr. Dingle lecture,_ but_ missed Kemp muttering something about 'telling Cam'.

**…**

"That was tiring," Claire grumbled. She and Derrick were heading towards Derrick's car to go home as the bell had ringed exactly seven minutes ago. Claire shot him a small, yet tired smile, "how was all your classes?"

Derrick shrugged his shoulders, "they were fine."

"Someone's sounding a bit depressed," Claire chuckled. She gazed at him expecting a defensive comeback, but saw Derrick glowering as he was watching something behind him.

Claire arched her eyebrows, "what is it?" She assumed the same direction as Derrick. Claire started to scowl as well as she saw who was coming towards the two of them.

Cam Fisher was speed walking towards them looking very concern.

"Geez, he looks a bit pissed," Claire put an arm on her hip, "I wonder why he's coming over here?" She turned to Derrick for an answer.

With an unenthusiastically shoulder shrug, Derrick replied, "I don't know."

**…**

"Hey baby," Massie gave Cam a quick kiss to greet him as he leaned against his car, waiting for her to come out of the school, "I didn't see you at lunch. What happen?" She positioned herself so her back was leaning against Cam.

"Kemp and the soccer guys wanted to check the schedule at the gym." Cam said, while grabbing Massie by the waist in order to sway her side to side. "We just wanted to make sure if we got the time right."

"Oh," Massie searched the school grounds. Students were leaving in groups; she waved as she saw Alicia, Kristen and Kemp leaving in their car pool ride. Massie smiled as she saw a familiar blonde, she cupped her hands together, "Hey, Claire!"

Not hearing her, Claire continued to walk alongside with Derrick.

Cam's swaying stopped, "You know 'tutor girl'?"

"Yeah," Massie made a face, "I met her during my spare." She took out her phone from her pocket to answer an incoming text, "I don't think she likes being called that, Cam."

He snickered, "Well she's pretty rude. You know what she called me?"

"What?"

"She called me an ass. She doesn't even know me."

Massie turned around to face Cam and cracked a smile, "Well, you can be at times."

"Hey." Cam pretended to look angry.

"You know I'm joking," She gave him a peck on the cheek; "Maybe she was angry or provoked when she called you that?"

"Maybe," Cam frowned, he gave Massie a little push to get space, "Hey, I'll go talk to her, she ignored you."

"Cam, you don't need to do anything, she probably just didn't hear." Massie replied. But it was futile as Cam was already walking towards Claire in a hurry.

**…**

"Yo," Cam called out, causing Derrick and Claire to stop from walking. "I want to talk to you privately."

Derrick stepped forward, "What for?" He stood his ground for Claire and himself. Derrick had a feeling that Kemp was muttering to himself in French class after what Kristen revealed what Massie said to the two of them. And, for a person who was going on about loyalty, the whole entire period, Kemp would be an idiot not to tell Cam what had happen.

"Not _you_," Cam gave him a weird a look, "_who_ are you?" He glanced at Claire and then back to Derrick, "I want to talk to 'tutor girl'," Cam cleared his throat, "I mean _Claire_," He quickly fixed his 'mistake' as Derrick's presence was still there.

Claire let out an exasperated noise and folded her arms over her chest, "Fine. Shoot."

"_Alone_." Cam stared at Derrick.

"I'll wait for you Claire," Derrick gave Claire a worried look, before walking away.

As he left, Cam came closer to Claire, with only inches separating them.

"Hey," Cam mumbled, "I just wanted to, well apologize to you for calling you a bitch." He scratched his head, "I probably pissed you off for calling you a wimp and 'tutor girl'."

Claire opened her mouth in surprise, "Wow, Cam Fisher is _apologizing_?"

"Yeah," Cam gave her a small smile, "I felt pretty bad about calling you that," He let out a little laugh, "Why you are so surprised? I'm human."

"I don't know," Claire replied lamely.

"Look, I better go, Massie is waiting for me." He turned his back on her, but before leaving he shot her a look, "I'm sorry" Cam then produced another small goofy and friendly smile, "_Claire_."

Standing still for a few minutes, Claire focused where Cam was. She was still in surprise that Cam actually apologized, for the first time since she knew him; Claire felt she was watching the real Cam Fisher. Maybe he was right, he is human after all.

**…**

"Massie,"

Massie looked up from her cellphone expecting to see it was Cam, instead, came face to face with Derrick Harrington.

"Hey," She smiled; she put her phone in her pocket, "What's up?"

"Nothing much,"

"Is Cam still talking to Claire?" Massie asked.

"Probably," Derrick said while shoving his hands in his jean pockets. He gave her a silly smile.

"What?" Massie sounded amused. "Do I have something on my face?" She brought her fingers to her face.

Derrick kept on smiling.

"What is it?" She pressed. "Did you hear a funny joke or something?"

Derrick laughed. "Oh," He grinned at her bashfully, "I heard something alright."

Massie widened her amber eyes and tilted her head to the left, "like what?"

He stood their shaking his head, "I can't say."

Massie shrugged her shoulders pretending not to care, "I probably heard it, anyways."

As Derrick was about to speak, Cam came back.

"We can go now." Cam opened the door for Massie, as she got in, he glanced at Derrick, "_Seriously_, who are you?"

"I'd better go," Derrick replied, completely ignoring Cam's question, he gave Massie a little wave and jogged off to find Claire.

Once Cam slammed the car door on his side, he settled into his seat, the driver's seat. He adjusted the rearview mirror and once it was adjusted to his liking he turned to Massie.

"What's that guy's name? The one who was speaking to you?"

"Oh," Massie buckled her seatbelt, "his name is Derrick Harrington."

Cam buckled his seatbelt as well, but his head shot up as he heard Massie. "Did you say Derrick Harrington?"

"Yeah," She peered out of the window, "why?"

"It's nothing," Cam quickly dismiss, he backed up the car to get out of the parking lot. He began to tightly grip the wheel, without Massie noticing.

_Derrick Harrington. _Cam thought. He took a quick peek at the flashing light coming from his cellphone. After talking to Claire and before heading to Massie, Cam received a text from Kemp.

**Kemp: Yo, some dude in my French class has the hots for Mass. I think his name is Derrick Harrington. FYI Kris, said that Massie thought Derrick was 'gorgeous'. Oh yeah, he's trying OUT for Center pos.**

Cam felt sorry for Derrick. Now that he knew who he was, Cam would make sure that Derrick would never ignore any of his questions again.

**…**

"All buckled up?" Derrick asked Claire.

"Yes,"

"Let's go." Derrick drove them out of the parking lot, "So how was today?"

Claire fiddled with the window button, "Interesting. You?"

"Same."

"Why?" She asked her best friend, "What made it so interesting?"

Derrick grinned, "From what I heard, Massie Block thinks I'm gorgeous."

Claire burst out laughing, "What?"

"Shut up. What made it interesting for you?"

Claire smirked and mimicked Derrick, "_From what I heard_," She looked at the window and spoke in small voice, "Cam Fisher apologized to me."

"Wow," Derrick replied.

"I know."

He sighed, "It' only the first day, and school is interesting."

"Yeah," Claire agreed. "I hope it stays that way."

Derrick smiled at his best friend, "Hopefully." He paused, "and hopefully, we won't have any problems to deal with this year."

* * *

><p><strong>Disclaimer: Lisi Harrison owns The Clique.<strong>

**Poor Kristen ;0 She is the 'Bevin' in this story. Chris, I guess is a mixture of Skillz and Mouth. And for those who guessed who was who, you guys are absolutely right! ;) Derrick = Lucas, Massie = Peyton, Alicia = Brooke, Claire = Haley and Cam = Nathan. So if you do watch, you'll know this story will eventually be a CLAM and MASSINGTON. But part of it will be Alicia/Derrington. (what do you call that? Dercia? Aliton? O_o)**

**This chapter is super long, sorry about that. Thanks for reading. Please review. :)**

**Title by: Greg Laswell's song, 'Comes and Goes (in waves)'.**


	5. No One's Aware

_Hey, your art matters. It's what got me here._

_-Lucas Scott (to Peyton Sawyer)_

**…**

Bouncing the soccer ball with his knees, Derrick Harrington felt he was ready for the soccer tryouts that would begin today, after school. He hoped that he would get in the team playing the forward position, but as his annoying classmate Kemp Hurley had pointed out, Derrick would have to display his skills better than Cam Fisher.

"Thirty-seven," Derrick counted, he shift his left knee for his right and bumped the ball in the air, "Thirty-eight, thirty-nine and forty."

He dropped the ball on the ground purposely as he felt his Iphone vibrate for the fifth time he had been practicing.

"Hello?" Derrick said, trying to keep the annoyance out of his voice.

"Derrick!" the voice on the other end screamed, "do you know what time it is?" The girl screamed at him some more causing him to go death for a few seconds.

"Claire?"

"Don't 'Claire' me!" Claire shrieked at him, "Get over _here_ right _now_." She was fuming, even if they were on the phone, Derrick could feel her anger, "I don't want to be late for school."

"Claire, you got to relax," Derrick calmly said, "the last time I checked the time it was eight-twenty-three."

"Really?" She scoffed at him; Derrick imagined she was crossing her arms over, "Look at the _damn _time, its eight-thirty-five. We only have ten minutes before class starts."

Derrick checked his watch to see if Claire was right, she was.

"Shit," Derrick grabbed his car keys from his shoulder bag, "okay Claire, I'm coming." He hung up on her, and started the engine in a hurry, in order for them not to miss a thing at school.

**…**

"Come on baby," Cam begged to Massie over the phone, "I won't have time to drive you to the art show." He became silent for a few seconds, "soccer tryouts," Cam said, in an obvious tone.

"Cam," Massie had the urge to hit something, "the tryouts aren't until three-thirty. You have thirty minutes to spare." She sighed and examined her nails, "I took a route there before, and it only takes eleven minutes."

"Mass," Cam grumbled, "if you already know the route I think its best that you should drive there by yourself." He paused to think of the right words to say, "Besides, tryouts might start earlier."

"Cam….."

"I promise I'll make it up to you," He said, "Look, I'll meet you at school. In _my car_" He hung up before Massie could add anything else in the conversation.

Massie let out a frustrated noise, she just wanted spend time more time with her boyfriend. She opened the front door to get in her Mercedes. As she got in her seat, Massie threw her phone into her purse in anger.

"Claire is _right_." She muttered to herself, "Sometimes you are an _ass_."

**…**

"See, Claire?" Derrick said as he pulled the car, he parked in his usual parking space. "We made it on time." He checked his Nike watch, "with three minutes to spare." Derrick gave a small push on Claire's head, "you worry too much."

"Hey!" She pushed Derrick's arm away from her head, "I need my brain for tutoring."

"Yeah, yeah," Derrick replied. He unbuckled his seatbelt, and grabbed the textbooks he needed from the backseats, "Claire, let's go."

But she wasn't leaving.

"Shit, Claire. For someone who was so worried about being late for school you sure aren't caring now."

His best friend was still ignoring him. Claire seemed to be bothered by something she was seeing out from her window.

"Claire?"

Claire was still looking out the window from her side, "disgusting."

"What?"

She turned around to face Derrick; Claire had a, well, _disgusted_ expression on her face. "And I thought he changed for the better." She mumbled.

"Who changed?" Derrick asked eagerly.

"No one," Claire grabbed her hobo purse from the back and got out the car, "Let's go Derrick." She walked hurriedly to the entrance door, unsure if she should have told her best friend she saw his crush participating in an act that was being forced upon her by her dickhead of a boyfriend, Cam Fisher.

**…**

"Mass," Cam pulled in for a kiss, "I'm sorry that I told you that I can't drive you to the art show," He grabbed her waist for closer contact, "I'll make it up to you," Cam moved his body to the right of the backseat of his car to give Massie more room.

"How?" She kinked her eyebrows in curiosity and momentarily forgetting about being angry at Cam.

"I don't know," Cam said, playing dumb for a minute. "How about this?" He flashed his infamous devious smile and waved a condom at her that he pulled out from his back pocket.

"Cam…" Massie's voice sounded tired, "Not now." She insisted, "We only have three minutes to class. And…" She let her voice trail for a bit, "I'm not really up for it."

"Come on, Massie." He pleaded to her, "We haven't done it in a long time," Cam pulled in for another kiss and grabbed her by her back, "we done it less than three minutes before." He said, while chuckling.

Massie blushed instantly, her cheeks turning pink when remembering that incident. "That was only because your parents came home earlier than we expected."

Cam sighed, running his fingers through his black hair, "Shit, Mass, we haven't had sex for awhile."

"Cam, I just don't want to." She held on to her purse, "People will see,"

"Who cares?" Cam replied, who was trying his best to keep the anger out of his voice, "I always let you get your way, I have needs too, you know?"

"I know you do, but if we are going to something intimate we should do it somewhere private," Massie hissed, "Not out in the public, that's so _un-classy_."

"Always with an excuse," He muttered, "who gives a shit of what we do? I don't care if people see."

"Well, _I_ do." Massie rolled her eyes with emphasis, "I don't want people to see us."

"Don't you mean you don't want _Derrick_ to see?" Cam gritted his teeth and glared at her, "I bet that's what you really mean."

"What are you talking about?" She snapped, she too, glared back, "What the hell does Derrick have to do with anything?"

"I think you know what I'm talking about." Cam moved his arms away from Massie; pushing her backwards. "Shit, let's just go to class." Cam grabbed his backpack, only to feel being pushed back by Massie.

"Don't push me, Cam," Massie spat angrily, "What's your problem? Derrick has nothing to do with any of this."

"Yeah, he does."

"No, he doesn't." She argued, "He's only a classmate, why do you care? I'm with you, not him." Massie suddenly softened her hard exterior, "Besides, I-I love you."

She blinked and exhaled deeply. The entire time they were dating, neither of them ever said those three words to the other. It was hard for her to say it, especially, with all the incidents that Massie had going for her. But saying it to Cam, right now, felt right, she did love him.

Cam dropped his backpack and looked at her peculiarly, "What did you say?"

"I said I love you, Cam"

Cam could feel a smile creeping up his face, he grinned as he had a plan, which of course, he did. "I love you too, Mass," He moved closer to her and bent down and give her a kiss on the lips.

"Say that again,"

"I love you," Cam paused to give her another kiss, "Massie Block,"

He watched her giggle and blush, Cam smirked and decided to keep kissing her, until they were fully making out in the backseat of the car. He smirked even more, when he noticed that Massie was unaware that they were lying down on the car seat, while making out.

She began to giggle uncontrollably, "Cam," Massie gave him light kisses on the mouth, "we should really get going to class."

"Later," Cam began to pull off his leather jacket and then took off his shirt. He gave Massie more kisses and then proceeded to unbutton her shirt.

**…**

"Derrick," Claire stopped walking once they were in the high school. She shot him guilty look. "I think you should go back outside."

"What? Why?" Derrick blinked at her. He studied his best friend's face; Claire had an expression of guilt and shame.

"Just _go_." She said in an attitude. Claire suddenly softened her face and spoke in a soft voice, "I think….I think….I dropped my bracelet on the ground near your car."

"Bracelet?" Derrick scratched his head, "I didn't even know you wore bracelets. Don't you usually wear necklaces?"

"_Derrick_." Claire said in a pleading way, at the same time giving him a stern look.

"Okay, okay," He put both of his hands up as a surrender gesture, "I'll go."

Derrick stomped his way back to the entrance doors. Before going out, he couldn't help, but notice Claire biting her nails. A habit that signaled she felt nervous or guilty about something.

**…**

"Cam-!"

Massie immediately stopped kissing him and tried to push him off. When she was finally was aware of what Cam was doing.

"Come on Mass,"

"No," She screamed, "stop it."

"Shit, Mass." Cam grumbled, but he kept kissing her and trying his best to undress her even with Massie's squirming.

_Knock-knock._

Cam stopped what he was doing. He looked behind him to see who was knocking on his car door.

"What the fu-?"

_Knock-knock_

Who he saw, was Derrick Harrington looking very uncomfortable and livid.

**…**

"Get _off _of _her_," Derrick tugged the car door opened and dragged Cam by his bare shoulder off Massie causing Cam to stumble backwards.

"What the _hell_, man?" Cam caught his balance. He marched up to Derrick to with fists curled in a ball, but was hit in the face with something Derrick thrown at him.

Derrick glared at him and spat, "Put your clothes on,"

Cam gritted his teeth; he turned his back on Derrick and begrudgingly put back his shirt and leather jacket on.

As Cam had his back turned on him, Derrick set his foot in the car looked at Massie with concern, "Are you okay?"

Massie opened her mouth in shock, "….Yeah," she answered him in a small voice. She tugged on her shirt and was about to thank Derrick only to jump in her seat as she witnessed Derrick being punched in the face by Cam.

"Derrick!" Massie hopped out of the car, grabbing her purse and ran to the scene where Derrick and Cam were fighting.

**…**

"I'm really glad you called me up again, Alicia," Scott murmured as he drove the two of them towards the school parking lot. He smiled at her, after making a slight turn. "Don't you look…_cheery_, today." Scott complimented as he inspected her dark blue and white cheerleading outfit from bottom to top.

Alicia laughed, trying her best to hide any tone that would indicate irritation, "yeah," She bit her lower lip, "I _do_ have cheer practice today."

"So," He drummed his fingers on the leather steering wheel, "out of curiosity, what made you call me?"

"Well," Alicia said in a sultry voice, "I missed you," She then turned to the window and muttered quietly to herself so Scott wouldn't hear her, "And I missed my ride for school today."

Scott parked the car and looked amused, "I missed you, too." He grinned at her, "Can I walk you to class?"

Alicia unbuckled her seatbelt and got out of the car before answering him. She shook her head, "Scott, you don't need to. You should go to class first; this is your senior year."

"Alicia…."

"Go," She ordered. Alicia then gave him a tight, sweet smile, "I'll see you around."

She watched Scott blush and leave her in order to go to class. As he was finally out of the picture, Alicia gave a massive eye roll. She only called her ex to get a ride since Kemp had to be at school super early.

The more she thought about it, Massie was _right_. Scott was _annoying_ and besides that, Scott was such a hopeless romantic and a bit needy. It wasn't her fault that guys fell to her manipulative ways.

Alicia started off walking towards to the school door, but was distracted when she heard a shrilly scream. She searched the school grounds and saw three shadowy figures all near each other.

As she narrowed her bright, brown eyes to get a better view, she realized she knew one of the figures.

"Massie?"

**…**

Derrick touched his cheek, it was swelling up fast. He was caught off guard when Cam punched him in the face. He realized he was sitting on the ground as he landed on his ass when Cam hit him.

"Get up, you _douche_." Cam was standing over him with a grin, "or I'll make you get up."

Derrick groaned. He picked himself up and steadied his weight, only to be kicked by Cam on the shins. He grabbed his shins; Derrick felt it throbbing and slowly watched his shins turn red.

"Kemp," Cam flared his nostrils, "told me everything." He glared at Derrick, "trying to steal _my _girlfriend?" Cam, this time, opted for a punch. He directly hit Derrick in the nose, "trying to steal _my _position on the soccer team?" Cam's voice became louder each second, "well, take this." Cam kicked Derrick in the legs, hard.

Cam positioned himself to give Derrick another kick, but became distracted by Massie's interference.

"Cam!" She screamed at him and tried her best to pull him back away from Derrick, "stop it."

Cam turned to give Massie a dirty glare, "_You_ stay _out_ of this." He gave her a little push by the shoulders to keep her away from fight, "I know what you called him." He pointed at Derrick and began to yell, "I don't understand you Massie." He took a deep breath, "You just meet this _douche_, and you call him…," Cam gave a hysteric laugh, "'gorgeous? _Gorgeous?_ We been dating for five months and I never heard you say anything about Me." He pointed to himself, "You_ never_ open up to_ me_ like that,"

"But I did! I told you I love you and I do." She tightened her grip on his arm, "Besides it was just a stupid word game, it doesn't mean anything," Massie said through her clenched teeth, "It's just a word, a phrase,"

"I guess you're right," Cam said in a monotone voice. His eyes filled with hate, "When I told you in the car that '_I love you'_, I didn't mean it either."

"You don't _mean_ that, Cam." Massie could feel her eyes well up in tears.

Cam smirked, "Yeah I do." He once again flashed his devious grin, "I just wanted to get in your pants."

Derrick had heard enough, he got up from the ground. He then, charged at Cam and tackled him onto the ground.

"What the fuck?" Cam stared at Derrick; he was holding his back where he felt pain.

Derrick hovered over him, "You really are an _ass_." He then punched Cam in the face.

**…**

"Massie!" Alicia ran over to her, she inspected her best friend's face whose face had tears flowing down, "Are you okay?" She gave her a comforting hug.

Massie tried her best to give Alicia a smile, but her bloodshot eyes didn't help.

Alicia examined the fight scene, specks of blood were splattered everywhere. She glanced at where Principal Burns and Coach Davis held Derrick and Cam, both lecturing them.

"Why were they fighting?" Alicia cast a confused look to Massie.

"I….I," Massie hiccupped and gave her halfhearted shrug, "…don't know."

"_Massie_," Alicia grabbed her by the shoulders and looked at her squarely in the eyes, "_you_ do _know_. Why?"

She watched the glossy haired brunette mouth move. Alicia listened carefully to every word Massie said. From what she got, her best friend was upset by Cam's behavior and him not meaning he didn't love her at all.

"Unbelievable." Alicia said in disgust.

"I know." Massie was no longer crying. Her amber eyes were filled with rage, "Lately, Cam has been acting like a jerk. He's suc-"

Alicia turned to her best friend with a look of disbelief. "_Cam_? Who _cares_ about _Cam_?" She massaged her temple, "The only important that happened in this fight, was that _Derrick Harrington_ was _fighting_ for _you_."

**…**

"_Boys_," Principal Burns was fuming. "Sit. Down. Now." She pointed to two metal chairs that faced her rectangular desk with her bird-like hands. The first thing most students noticed about Burns was her bird-like features. And today was no exception. Principal Burns glared at Derrick and Cam with her beady black eyes, with her beak shape nose crinkling.

"How in the world did this fight even start?" She folded her arms and waited for an answer.

"He—!"

"No, he was the o—"

"One at a time!" Burns screeched. She shifted her eyes back and forth between the two of them, thinking of whose side of the story to listen to first. "Mister Fisher, please tell your story."

Cam smirked at Derrick, "Gladly."

**…**

"Alicia!" Massie followed her friend in the northern hallway of the school. "Hey," She caught up with her walking, and grabbed Alicia's tone dance arm to stop her from walking even further. "Are you mad at me?"

"Mad?" Alicia curled her upper lip as she faced Massie, "what makes you think I'm mad at you?"

"Well," Massie replied, "your tone of voice and the fact that you practically speed walked to get away from me." She juggled her books into her left hand and leaned closer to her, "is this….about the fight?"

Alicia gave her a coy smile, "You know me so well, Massie." Her eyebrows then burrowed into a glare, "don't you?"

"What's that supposed to mean?"

Alicia ignored her. "The fact is Derrick was fighting for you." She curled her lip even more, "that must mean something Massie." She clutched her books to her chest, "If a guy you just talked, a day _ago_, is fighting for you, it means that you really must have really opened up to him."

"Alicia," Massie widened her eyes, "are we really going to discuss about _this_, right now?"

"Yes!" Alicia stomped her white runners on the ground with such force, "Why him? Why does it only take one day for you open to a guy you basically just met?" She huffed in frustration, "I mean, it took you a fricken year and a half for you to open up to me."

"Leesh," Massie closed her eyes for a moment, "why is this so important to you?"

"Because," Alicia could feel her voice drain, "because…I don't want a repeat of what happened to us with Harris Fisher."

"You make it sound like that I like Derrick."

"Well, do you?" Alicia hissed. She clutched her books even tighter; she gave her a questioning look with her lips pursed.

Massie just shook her head disappointedly, "I'm not even going to bother to answer that question." She turned her heels away from Alicia, "I'm going to class."

"Fine!" Alicia yelled after her, not caring that she was disrupting the classes that were already in session. "Just like two years ago, Massie! You wouldn't even tell me that you liked Harris, until he was about to ask _me_ out."

Alicia was about to turn the other way of the hallway, until she saw Massie stop in her tracks and race back where she was.

As she watched Massie come closer, Alicia shifted her weight from one feet to another, instantly regretting about spilling about their past aloud in the public.

"Alicia," Massie said as she walked closer to her, "I told you I liked Harris was because I wanted to be _honest_ with you," She sucked in a breath, "I don't even know anymore," Massie practically spat, "if I lie to you, you'll get mad. If I'm honest with you, you'll still get mad."

"That's nawt the point!" Alicia raised her voice, "The point is that, what makes Derrick Harrington allow you to—"

"That's not even the point," Massie cut her off; she gave her an alarming look. "You're just afraid our friendship will be ruined again." She took a deep breath, "And eventually it will, if you keep fussing over petty things like these."

"I'm not fussing over anything," Alicia replied back, trying her best to convince Massie and herself.

"Yeah, you are." Massie simply said. She turned her back on Alicia and started walking away from her, but before Alicia was out of her sight, she gave her one more look. "And your wrong, Alicia. I don't know you that well; because my best friend would have comforted me about Cam and not _bitch_ about a guy fighting for me."

Alicia watched Massie walk farther away from her, until she blended into a black dot. For the first time in her life, she realized that she standing by herself alone.

**…**

Claire scratched her cuticles continuously, until they were bleeding. She knew she shouldn't have, since it was a habit that she just broke a month ago, but knowing that Derrick was still outside and who might have been dealing with Cam's antics made her nervous.

She took a quick peek behind her, only to see that Cam's desk was still empty. It must have meant that Cam was still '_busy_' with Massie. She hoped that Derrick would have spotted them before anything serious actually happened.

Claire felt a bit guilty for sending Derrick out alone and on top of that, she lied to him about her so-called 'bracelet'.

Her ears perked up when she heard Kemp whispering to Dune Baxter, a fellow soccer player, about Cam.

"Hey," Kemp whispered to Dune, "dude, where's Cam?"

"How am I supposed to know?" Dune whispered back, "can you not live without him for one day?"

"Shut up." Kemp nudged Dune in the ribs, ending the conversation at the point.

Claire poked herself on the back palm of her hand with her mechanical lead pencil to stop herself from further ears dropping into the conversation and pay attention to whatever the teacher was teaching. What was it? Probability?

"….so in order to figure out the probability of getting the exact same t-shirt as your friend, all you have to do- "

_Bam._

The door opened widely with brute force causing such ruckus even the teacher jumped.

The class stared in awe and in shock of what they saw at the doorway.

Cam stood there panting, but him being late wasn't a surprise. The surprise was all the cuts, bruises, and the semi-black eye which had covered the majority of his face.

"Dude!" Kemp shouted over the class while jumping to his feet, "What the hell happen to your face?"

"Mister Hurley! Please remain in your seat." The teacher hollered.

Kemp grumbled. He immediately sat down.

"I'll tell you later," Cam replied calmly, despite his injuries. He took the shortest route to get to his seat and on the way; he passed by Claire's desk.

Claire quickly looked up to see the damage on his face. At the exact moment, Cam stared at her as well.

But she wasn't fast enough to examine all the damages done to his face because all Claire saw was the same exact stupid, goofy, friendly smile he gave her yesterday.

**…**

Derrick moaned while walking up and down the corridor of the school to attend the remaining time of his chemistry class.

The pack of ice that was given to him to soothe the pain, helped. Yet, it made his appearance worsen. His face was swelled up badly. While the injuries that Cam caused wasn't hurting him as much, Derrick couldn't help, but feel pain coming from his feet.

He shook his feet one at a time to get rid of the tingling pain. Instead, he heard a slight plinking sound coming from his right shoe.

And then he remembered, right before Burns had pulled the two of them apart, with the assistance from Coach Davis, Derrick spotted something glimmering near his car.

He picked it up and stuffed it in his runner just in case the piece of jewelry would have fallen out, had Cam charged at him again.

Quickly ducking into the corner of the corridor, Derrick removed his Adidas runner. He flipped his runner upside down, causing the object to fall onto the floor.

He bent down and scooped the small piece of jewelry into his palms. Opening up his palms, Derrick was revealed to a _somewhat _pretty piece of jewelry—not that he was into jewelry, but the one he was holding was very _elegant _looking.

What he picked up was a charm if he was not mistaken, more specifically, a crown that was encrusted with tiny clear rhinestones on each top point of the crown. For a charm, it was pretty heavy, which must have meant it was made of pure gold.

Derrick shook his head in amusement; Claire was never the type to actually have decent fashion taste. She wore Keds in the winter for god's sake!

He took a peek at the charm; this was probably the most decent accessory Claire had. She _owned_ him big time for finding it.

**…**

"Mass," Alicia's voice was muffled, since the both of them were giving each other their "make-up" hug, "I'm sorry I overreacted this morning." She pulled away from her friend and gave a friendly smile, "I know I shouldn't have brought up the incident with _Harris_." Alicia spoke softly when she mentioned his name, "and when I _bitched_ about Derrick." She giggled, "It should always be 'hoes before bros.'"

Massie giggled back, "Always." She in return, shot a sympathetic smile to Alicia, "I'm sorry too, Leesh." Massie waved her hands, "It was just a stupid spat,"

Massie began to rock in her heels back and forth, "So," she said while shooting Alicia a grin, "Do you really like Derrick?"

Alicia nodded confidently, "Yeah, I do." She smiled, "There's something different about him from all the other guys I took interest in." She blush a little a bit, "I tried flirting with him during class," Alicia began to pout, "But for some reason he just brushes me off."

"Really?" Massie's mouth formed into an 'o' shape. This was the first time she ever heard a guy immune to Alicia's charm and flirtations. "What did he do?"

"He doesn't—" Alicia stopped herself from going, "It doesn't matter. All I know is that Derrick doesn't seem to be interested in me." She frowned, "Maybe I came off too strong?"

"Maybe," Massie shrugged, "but your _Alicia Rivera_." She gave a comforting smile, "You got Harris Fisher to date you, while you were a freshmen and he was a senior."

"True," Alicia's eyes began to sparkle, "Maybe Derrick is playing hard to get." She licked her lips, "but then again, the only types of conversation we have, is about homework." Alicia gathered her hair into a high ponytail and locked eyes with Massie, "Derrick doesn't seem to like me, but you _two_ seem to get _along_."

Alicia turned on her 'puppy face' look, showing it to Massie. "Talk to him for me, please?"

"Alicia….."

"Please," Alicia begged, "You said you would, I just want to know what type of girls he likes." She grabbed Massie by the shoulders, "Plus, you have more classes with him, than I do."

Massie sighed, "Wouldn't it be easier for you to talk to him? That way he gets to know you."

"Yeah, but every time I strike a conversation, I'm always the one who starts it." Alicia whined, "And it seems he doesn't want to continue the convo." She tilted her head, "And besides, I don't want to be that obvious. That spells 'desperation' all over." Alicia widened her eyes, "Please?"

"Fine, _Princess_." Massie gave in, "I'll try to find more information about him." She saw the look Alicia was giving her, "And I'll bring you up, even_ more_."

"Thanks," Alicia squealed and gave Massie a quick hug, "I better go to class now, break is almost over." She grabbed her leather sachet that she had put on the ground and managed her textbooks in her arms to her liking.

Before heading off to class, Alicia turned around and gave Massie an almost too sugary sweet smile, "Mass," She fluttered eyes innocently, "Don't try to be too_ open_ with Derrick," Alicia raised her eyebrows, "If you know what I mean."

Massie watched Alicia happily sashay to her class, as she was no longer in sight, Massie began to frown. Up until now, she never realized how her best friend could look so innocent, yet be so threatening at the same time.

**…**

"Mass," Cam tapped her shoulder gently, "Wait up," He had followed her up to the library door, despite his gym class already started. This time, he grabbed her arms so she could face him, "I want to talk to you about this morning."

Massie pulled her arms away so Cam's grip had loosened; she looked up at him, glaring, she tried to remain calm, but looking at Cam's face made her concerned, due to the damages done. Even if she was pissed at him, she couldn't help, but worried about the injuries he received in the morning.

"What do you want?" Massie asked, harshly.

"I don't know what came over me today, Mass," Cam rambled, "I…I guess I was thr—"

"Stop with the bullshit, Cam." Massie interrupted, surprisingly softly, "This whole time when we were going out, did you…." She bit on her lip and forced herself to look into Cam's eyes with intensity, "did you ever have feelings for me at all?"

Cam opened his mouth, but nothing came out. He just stood there and gazed at her.

"I can't believe this," Massie shook her head frantically, "I'm such an idiot." She took a deep breath to calm herself down; at this point it was useless. "Do you have any feelings at all? Are you even human?"

"Mass," Cam cupped her shoulders, ignoring her flinch. "I do care, I care about you. I do have feelings. I'm just like you."

"No you're not!" She slapped his arms away, stunning him. "If you were, you would have feelings for me, like I do for you." Massie scoffed at him, "But you _don't_, I guess that's what makes you _Cam Fisher_."

"Massie," Cam coaxed, "Babe," He was about to reach for her arm, but decided against it. "How can you say I don't have feelings for you? What about all the fun dates we had? The gifts we got from and for each other?"

He mustered up his best 'concerned' look for her, though it seemed useless as the more he gave her that look, the more she stared back at him with a rather blank expression. It was until finally, Massie made a movement with her arm, did Cam dropped his 'concerned' expression.

Cam watched Massie rolled up her sleeves, until he was able to see _that_ colorful and plastic bracelet he had given her at least more than five months ago.

"Here," Massie said, she took off the crackerjack bracelet and placed it in his palms. "I don't need it anymore. It's not that important as I thought." She tugged her sleeves down and shot Cam a pathetic look, "When you gave me this, I decided that I would get to know you myself despite what other people have said about you because it was such a sweet gesture." She shook her head and gave sad, small smile, "But, I guess they were right."

"Massie," Cam swallowed hard, he knew what was coming up next. After all, he had done it so many times before to other girls. Still, it was pretty hard to take.

"You only care about yourself," She said, "about what you get and what you want." Massie started to turn her heels away, but still faced Cam, "not anymore. We are over." She turned her head quickly away facing the front doors of the library, so Cam wouldn't be able to see the tears welling up in her eyes. "Goodbye," Massie voice cracked, "Cameron."

Cam stood in the hallway in silence for a few minutes, feeling like someone had punched him in the gut. He glanced down at the crackerjack bracelet that was returned to him. He never knew something so cheap could be so significant for someone else.

The more he stared at it, the more Cam felt guilty. Maybe for the first time from all the relationships and hook ups he had, he actually had feelings for the other person. He knew for Massie, that she was someone that he liked, but definitely, not loved.

**…**

"Claire," Derrick snapped, "Stop staring." He hated the feeling of being stared, but what Derrick hated even more, was when his best friend stared. Her baby blue eyes were wide and clear, like a porcelain doll, which sometime made it a bit creepy for him. "It's just bruises and scratches."

"I'm sorry," Claire couldn't suppress her giggles any longer, "I just find it…..I don't know fascinating?"

Derrick grumbled, "You find it fascinating that I get beaten up?" He glared at her even more, to his annoyance, Claire giggled even louder, "I told you to stop staring at my face." He huffed, "You and Plovert are exactly alike."

Claire sneered at him and playfully patted his hand, "That's why me and Plovert are your only friends."

Derrick watched Claire get up from her seat and adjusting her purse handle, "Yo," he said, "Where are you going?"

"Oh, didn't I tell you?" Claire grabbed her purse, "Burns wants me to teach other tutors who joined the program,"

"Wait," Derrick rummaged through his pockets, until he got what he was searching for. "Here," He waved the gold charm in front her face, "You owe me." Derrick said smirking, "I have to say, this is pretty fashionable, even for you, Claire."

Claire widened her eyes, "Oh," She began to frown and started talking in a small voice, "Derrick, that's not mine." She slowly sat down back into her seat and leaned forward to him, "I have to come clean, Der." She pulled his arms closer to her and peered at the charm. "Wow that is _pretty_."

"Come clean?" Derrick lowered his eyes at her, "What do you mean?"

"I sort of…., well I _lied_." She crossed her legs, "You were right, I don't wear bracelets. I only told you because I saw what Cam was doing to Massie." Claire placed her palms onto Derrick's, "I'm sorry, I really didn't know how to tell you. "

Derrick winced, "So that's what you were watching when I parked the car?"

"Yeah," She admitted, "Derrick...sorry." He might have thought she was apologizing for lying to him, but Claire meant it in two different ways.

Derrick sat there for a moment in silent, but he concluded to something. He gave Claire a cheeky grin, "I know you only lie, when you try to protect someone Claire." He gave her light punch in the shoulder, "so, _thanks_."

"Thanks?" Claire quirked her eyebrows in confusion and looked at him, "for what?"

"If you hadn't persuaded me to go back outside, Cam would have probably convinced Massie to..." Derrick's face dropped, "well..., you _know_."

"Oh," She said. Then realizing what had really happened, Claire cupped her face with her hands, "So, Massie and Cam didn't...?"

"Yeah, exactly."

"That's good." Claire said in relief, loud enough to get Derrick's attention. She didn't know why she was relief that Cam didn't sleep with Massie. _No_, Claire told herself, she meant she was relief that Massie wasn't force to sleep with Cam. Or did she _really_?

"Did she talk to you during Chemistry?"

"No,"

"It is understandable, though." Claire lamented. "She's embarrassed that you saw her and Cam." She squeezed the handle of her purse, "I really got to go now, Derrick. Burns will kill me if I'm even later, than I am now."

"Sure, see you at the Caf." Derrick replied. He took out his iPhone from his back pocket of his Diesels.

Claire stood up and gave Derrick a small wave, she hurried her pace. As she did, she almost collided with red, teary-eyed Massie Block, who was heading straight into the back section of the library, unknown to the brunette, which was where Derrick was sitting.

**…**

Derrick started to slouch in his seat. After Claire had left, he was too focused on an app game he was playing with his iPhone.

He was so focused and unaware, that he didn't realize a familiar brunette had taken a seat, from the next table that was beside him.

Fortunately for him, she didn't realize it either.

It was not until, Derrick had let out a frustrated noise when he had lost another game of 'angry birds' did it catch both of their attentions.

"Oh, hey." Derrick said awkwardly, he turned pink. "I didn't see you," He stared at her amber eyes, which were red; it must have meant she was upset about something.

"Hey," Massie replied meekly. She quickly lowered her face and eyes, but Derrick had caught her face turning the same shade of pink as he did. "I didn't either."

"Uh, I—er," Derrick stuttered for a bit, he _wanted_ to ask her if she was okay, alright, but he couldn't bring himself to do it.

"I can give you the notes we took in class today." Massie said all of the sudden, "You missed the majority of it," She motioned him to come over where she was.

"R-right," Derrick got up from his seat and grabbed the seat closest to him and Massie. He plopped down on the chair. Derrick felt his breathing became heavier; it did this whenever he was nervous. This was probably the closet contact he had with Massie.

Writing the chemistry notes he had missed and being taught by Massie, time passed by quickly. As Derrick quickly scanned the notes he wrote out, he felt Massie reach for his arm.

Her reach, it wasn't the same like Alicia's, who was flirting with him, Massie's reach was soft and genuine.

"Sorry," Massie murmured, she didn't lower her gaze even though her face was burning. "For what Cam did to you."

"You don't need to apologize for him," Derrick responded, he closed his notebook. "I-I meant to ask you..."

"What is it?" She tilted her head, slightly.

"Well," Derrick coughed and leaned forward, "I mean, are you okay?"

"Yeah," Massie replied with a tone of certainty. She bit down on her lip, to somehow convince herself she was.

"Are you sure?" Derrick pressed, he appeared skeptical. "You don't seem like it. You don't even seem like yourself."

"_Myself_?" Massie's voice rose, "We just started talking a day ago, how you can even know what I'm like?"

Her sudden anger at Derrick surprised him. Yet, he wasn't intimidated by her. From all the times he had saw her during school, Massie seemed to be happy and outgoing, especially when she was surrounded by her friends. But he knew better. Somehow Derrick always knew she was putting on this facade. It was like he was the only who knew what she was feeling, even if she kept up that charade.

Massie was _lonely_, but today, she seemed _lonelier_.

"Your eyes," Derrick blurted out, "They always have this certain look, but today they look different." He paused, "they look..._sadder_."

Massie glanced at him, her _eye_s? She never knew someone would actually notice the feelings she carried with them. Alicia never noticed, neither did Cam. So why did Derrick?

"_Well_," She said in a bitchier tone, then she intended to, "I was crying, just a few minutes ago."

"Oh," Derrick mumbled. He scratched his head awkwardly, and began twirling his pencil between his fingers. He shifted his glances to the bookshelf and then to Massie. "It's not that, I mean your eyes always had this kind of, um, _spark_ to it. The crying isn't really a factor. You just don't have a spark in your eyes today."

For a minute, Derrick watched her look at him and then down to the table. She made a face that he couldn't read. It wasn't until another minute later, did her lips moved.

"I broke up with Cam,"

Derrick opened his mouth, then closed it, then opened it again. Broke up? With Cam? He sat there dumbfounded, with thoughts racing through his mind.

Finally, Derrick cleared his throat, "Sorry, to hear that."

Massie gave him a weak smile, "That's okay, maybe it was for the best."

"Maybe,"

They both sat there idly, until Derrick felt Massie tugging on his arm, one more time.

"Yeah?"

"I-I wanted say, well," She peeked around the room, "Thanks," Massie whispered to him in an awkward tone. She stared down at her notes in embarrassment, "I really didn't want to engage in what Cam….wanted me to do." Massie looked up at Derrick with her cheeks filling with the color red in them, "It sounds weird, but you kind of saved me from my boyfriend."

"Massie," Derrick gave her a forlorn expression, "I…."

She looked at him and gave him another small, weak smile before he could finish his sentence. It seemed that she wanted to say something more, but Massie remembered what happened in the past with Alicia and decided to shut herself up before saying anything else to Derrick.

**…**

"Shit, man." Dune Baxter was wide-eyed. "You are going to be in so much shit, with Coach. You know how he hates when people skips his classes."

The two of them were leaning against the wall of the gymnasium. Both Cam and Dune had already completed their daily physical education workout—they had to run three laps around the track, do 30 push-ups and 15 sit-ups.

"Screw it," Cam waved him off, "Besides, I'll be coming back. I'll just be gone for a few minutes."

Dune looked behind him, where Coach Davis was looking very frustrated with Dempsey Solomon and Dan Burdock. "You better hurry up, then."

Cam smirked at him, "Yeah, yeah." He then gave Dune a warning look, "Tell Kemp, so he won't make a stupid remark to Coach."

"Fine," Dune snickered, "You know your breaking his heart, right?" He gave out an obnoxious laugh.

"Shut up," Cam turned to see Kemp still doing push-ups, "I'm going now."

He gave Dune a nod and jogged out of the gym as fast as he could.

**…**

_Tap, tap, tap,_ was the sound Derrick's pencil was making as he knocked it against the table he and Massie were still using in the library.

He sighed, after Massie had thanked him, their conversation was mindless. They would only talk about their upcoming Chemistry project and other small talk.

It was like she wasn't talking to him about deeper things on _purpose_.

Derrick checked his Nike watch; they only had twenty minutes until the bell rang for lunch. He discreetly watched her rewrite her notes, in order for them to be even neater.

Unconsciously, Derrick began to knock his pencil against the table again; _tap,tap,tap._

"You know," Massie finally spoke, alerting Derrick and breaking the awkward tension, "I don't think you should tap your pencil against the table. It's distracting people."

"Sorry I didn't mean to distract you," Derrick widened his eyes; he immediately dropped his pencil onto the table.

"It's okay," Massie gave him a small grin, "I was just speaking for the other people that are in here." She closed her notebook, "I'm done rewriting my notes, anyways."

"That was fast," He picked up his pencil and threw it in his shoulder bag. Derrick noticed that Massie was packing her things as well; she shuffled her papers and notebooks into neat one pile, as she did her purple pen rolled off the table, landing near Derrick's feet.

"I'll get it," Derrick responded before Massie could react. He bent down to reach her pen, but noticed there was a folded paper that was near his foot as well.

He picked up the pen and the paper at the same time, after straightening his back and returning the purple pen to Massie, he unfolded the paper, which revealed an artwork, done with pastels.

Derrick was so intrigued by it that he ignored Massie thanking him. The artwork he was viewing was so different from what he was use to. Its colouring was dark, mostly in black with bright colours deliberately faded away. In the center of the artwork was a picture of a girl curled up, dressed in black, with angel wings on her back. She had an expression of longing and was positioned to view the bright colours. The word 'someday' was scripted on the bottom of the artwork.

He was about to examine the artwork in more detail, until it was snatched away from him by a very angry looking Massie.

"What the hell?" Massie snapped, she quickly snatched the paper out of Derrick's hands, "this is mine."

"I didn't know that. I-I saw it on the ground when I was searching for your pen." Derrick blinked, "sorry," he added quickly and softly, "If I offended you,"

Massie bit down on her lower lip with regret, "You didn't," She tucked her hair behind her hair, "I don't normally show my artwork to people."

"Really?" Derrick looked surprised; he raised his eyebrows, "why?"

"Because," Massie took a long pause before answering Derrick, "it's something that I do in private, you know?" She was no longer angry, "it's a way for me to express my emotions that I'm feeling during that time." Massie gave him a lopsided smile, "not many people would understand my style of art."

"How would you know?" He countered, "If you don't show people your artwork, of course they'll never understand." Derrick gazed at her, "you should at least show some people."

"I didn't say I never showed people my work, I did," She leaned her hands against the side of her cheeks, "I did show it to Alicia and Cam," Massie smiled sadly, "but I don't think they understand the point of it. I don't know, maybe my art doesn't really inspire people or matter," She glanced down at it and then back to Derrick, "besides it's just a hobby I do for fun or in my spare time."

Derrick watched her, talking about Art made Massie sprang to life, it was something that was part of her and it was sad to see her be so defeated and dejected about her own work.

"You're wrong." He told her.

"What?" Massie squinted at him, "how?"

"You're wrong, because," Derrick shot her a look, "if creating something makes you happy or it makes you feel accomplished, than it does matter. And if your art does that, it should matter to you and to others," He gave her a shy smile, "besides, I understand it."

And from that moment on, Derrick saw clarity in her amber eyes, and he too, could feel it in his brown eyes; something that would prove to be important to their friendship and relationship throughout the two years of high school.

And from that moment on, Massie, felt her heart open up a little bit, something that she hadn't done for a long time. Even though the little voice in her head kept reminding her what Alicia had warned in the morning and the past with Harris, she decided to ignore it and allow her heart to open up a bit for Derrick Harrington.

Just a _little_ bit, _though._

**…**

Jogging all the way to the library from the gym was a breeze for Cam, the distance was far, but it was good exercise. And besides, this was Cam Fisher , any challenge that was thrown to him he would gladly face it, besides running wasn't even challenge for him it was a breeze, maybe for Dempsey Solomon it would have been a challenge, for Cam? No way.

What was a challenge was winning back Massie, but Cam knew he had a chance to get her back.

Or perhaps he spoke too soon.

Because as soon as he threw the library doors opened, he spotted her with Derrick Harrington huddling near each other in the back corner of the library.

**…**

Massie laughed louder than she thought she would. She and Derrick were talking more, and when Derrick told her the story of how he and Claire first met, she didn't believe she giggled as much as she did today.

"Oh my god," Massie giggled, "And till this day you guys are still best friends. That's kind of hard to believe after the way you guys met."

He chuckled, "Yeah, but I guess that happened for a reason." Derrick grinned, "If I hadn't accidentally spat gum on her hair, I don't think Claire and I would have ever been best friends."

"Yeah, that's true," She agreed, "I guess everything does happen for a reason."

They both grinned at each other at the same time, causing them to be embarrassed for some reason.

"Um," Massie said, unsure, "Ms. Dunkel commented about the upcoming Chemistry project, and she said that we could partner up," She glanced at him shyly, speaking in a quiet and insecure voice, "I mean if you want to,"

"Yeah," Derrick had his mouth open a bit too wide, "sure,"

Massie breathed in relief, "great," She quickly took out her purple pen and schedule from her purse and scribbled about the project. Massie pushed her schedule in front of Derrick, "Can I get your e-mail?"

Derrick nodded; he grabbed her purple pen and wrote in her schedule. As he returned Massie her schedule, he beamed at her, "I gave you my cell number, just in case."

"Oh," Massie took a quick look at what Derrick wrote, "Thanks. I can give you my cell num—"

Massie stopped herself from speaking as she noticed a shadow forming over her. She turned around to see Cam.

"Cam, what are you doing here?"

"I want to talk to you," Cam was breathing harder than usual, "privately," He shot Derrick a cocky look, but quickly changed his expression when he noticed Massie staring at him.

"Is it that important?" Massie folded her arms across her chest.

"Yeah, it is."

Massie stared at Cam, studying his expression; she knew he wouldn't give up. "Fine," she got up from her seat and glanced at Derrick, mouthing 'sorry' to him.

She followed Cam out of the library, focusing and thinking about what Cam would be discussing with her. Entirely forgetting the fact, she was about to give Derrick her cell phone number.

**…**

Derrick was pissed. He was so close to getting Massie's cell number, but of course, something had to interrupt the moment. In this case, it was her ex-boyfriend Cam who happened to come at the exact time.

He checked his watch again, anxiously, only 11 minutes to go until the lunch bell rang.

He began to slump in his seat again, and took out his phone to play with it. Derrick decided to wait, until Massie came back.

Eight minutes later, he heard the library door opening. He saw Massie and Cam walking the same way they left to talk, Cam was leading with Massie behind him, but something was different.

Because as soon as Cam shifted to the left, Derrick noticed that both of them were wearing matching colourful bracelets and they were holding hands.

Derrick felt a lump in his throat. He probably looked like a deer caught in the headlights as he kept staring at their hand holding in shock.

"Derrick," Massie said as soon as she reached the table to retrieve her purse. She broke into the biggest smile he ever seen, "Cam and I..." She looked up to Cam, who smiled at her, "decided to work thing out; and were back together!"

Derrick sat there, not knowing what to say. He could have sworn he heard Massie squeal in delight. He gave her a look. "That's..."

"We better go now Mass," Cam said abruptly, Derrick watched him squeezed Massie's hand harder, "I still have to think of an excuse to tell Coach Davis,"

Massie nodded at him, "okay," She waved at Derrick, "I'll see you around?"

"Yeah," Derrick grumbled, "I'll see you," He stared down to end his game from his phone, as the two of them left.

Yet, when Derrick looked up to see them disappear from the library, he could still see Cam's cocky smirk plastered all over his face.

* * *

><p><strong>Disclaimer: Lisi Harrison owns the Clique<strong>

**Got to apologize again, ._. I did not expect to take this long for this chapter, and as well for those who hate long-ass chapters. But I promise next chapter will be a lot shorter!**

**Gah, and since this is kind of related to 'OTH' who saw the newest episode? Dan Frickin Scott and Keith, that was so sad.**

**There are probably a lot grammar mistakes, but I just wanted to get this chapter over, I'll reread it and then fix it.**

**What do you think? :) Are you angry that Massie and Cam went back together? This chapter was long because I had to include everything that I'm going to use in the future chapters, like I stated, 'everything happens for a reason' which is going to be true.**

**And because I'm going to be busy the next few weeks, the next chapter is going to include: soccer tryouts, new character intros, and another significant DerrickxMassie scene.**

**Title by Jack Savoretti's song, 'No One's Aware'.**

**Read and review, please? :)**


	6. Open Your Eyes

_The heart knows reason which reason does not know._

_-Lucas Scott_

**…**

"Mass?" Alicia's voice was filled with a mixture of surprise and excitement, although it was mostly surprise. She arched her right eyebrow to the brunette, "I didn't think you would come to practice. What about the art show?"

As the role of cheer captain, Alicia was the first member to arrive at the gym. She made sure she set up enough mats for the girls to practice their moves on; right after the last bell had rang. But she wasn't the only one there, besides being surprised at the arrival of her best friend; the opposite side of the enormous wooden gymnasium was packed with the returning and remaining soccer players and a few dozen hopefuls.

Usually by now, Alicia would have flashed her most irresistible grin and add a few playful and flirtatious winks at the hot and cute soccer guys, but she was distracted by Massie's presence.

"Hey, Leesh," Massie giggled, she was giddy after she had told Alicia that Cam and her had made up during lunch break. "I'm not, I was just going to say goodbye to Cam first."

Alicia smirked, "You guys sure made up," She tossed her high ponytail around, "so you aren't angry about him not giving you a ride there, anymore?"

She watched Massie shook her head, "No, but he said to call him if I needed anything," Alicia saw Massie smiling at a specific direction, "And speak of the devil,"

Alicia turned her head the same direction where Massie was looking at, Cam was slowly striding where they were.

Cam threw his arms around Massie as soon as he reached the both of them, "Hi, baby," He gave her a kiss on the lips, "Hey, Alicia," He said as soon as they finished. Cam gave her his usual chin nod greeting.

Alicia nodded back, but then pretended to gag, "You guys!" She rolled her eyes playfully, "PDA is _so _seventh grade," She smacked the both of them on the arms, "grow up."

"Oh," Massie waved her off, "be quiet, you _slut_," She grinned at Alicia.

"Shut up, you _whore_," Alicia grinned back. The two of them always poked fun at each other by giving each other nicknames; it was habit they started in the eighth grade.

Cam faked a cough in order for him to get back into the conversation somehow, "I better let you go now, Mass," He gave her a quick peck on the cheeks, but faced Alicia before jogging to the other side of the gym. "Don't worry Leesh, when you find yourself a guy, you can do as much PDA as you want."

Alicia pouted, but Cam wasn't able to see as he had his face turned away from the two of them.

"Uh," Massie slipped on her leather purse, "I better go now," But before she did, Massie leaned forward to Alicia, "Well, speaking of guys," She motioned her head to show Alicia a sandy blonde-haired guy, "Derrick is trying out for the soccer team, so maybe you can cheer him on and talk with him?"

Massie gave her a small wave, and then left through the back doors.

_Derrick._

Alicia sighed, god he was so _hot_. She didn't really need her best friend to inform her that he was trying out for the team. Alicia already spotted him when she first came to the gym. She followed and studied him from where she was.

Maybe she shouldn't have since Alicia noticed her eyes were getting worse; because the moment Massie came in, Derrick's head followed the brunette wherever she went, even to the point where the back doors were, the last place Massie had gone through to leave.

_Nah,_

Alicia shrugged the thought out of her head; there was no way that was true. Derrick was probably looking over here, for _her,_ not Massie. After all, Massie must have spilt a lot of information about her by now to Derrick. And if wasn't that, then Alicia concluded that her own eyesight was getting worse.

_Hopefully. _

**…**

Claire gathered all the stuff that was needed for tutoring and the tutor program from her locker. She had to go to the gym, _pronto_.

She wanted to wish Derrick and Plovert good luck for the tryouts before she had to leave to tutor some more students.

Claire quickly walked towards the gymnasium; she didn't look where she was going and crashed into Dune Baxter and Kemp Hurley.

"Geez," Dune looked annoyed, "look at all the mess," He scowled as he saw papers scattered all over the ground.

Kemp copied Dune's tone, "Yeah, and we have tryouts right now," He picked up the paper that was closest to him, flipping it to see what it was about, "oh wait," Kemp paused and looked where Claire was, "it's 'tutor girl', right?"

"Yeah, your right," Dune interjected before Claire could say anything. He smacked Kemp on the arm, "but I think it's more of 'loser Lyons'" He pointed at her with his fingers and had a stupid grin that inched on his face. "That is right, though?"

"_No!_" Claire growled; her pale blonde eyebrows formed into a glare, "its _Claire._" She quickly grabbed all the scattered papers and documents around them, jamming them into her hobo purse. She worked as fast as she could since she wasn't receiving any help from the guys. Claire brushed herself and got up, "I least I know your names." She snapped, "You should have the courtesy of knowing other people's names."

Claire left in a hurry in anger and went straight to the gym.

As she was no longer in site, Dune picked up a piece of paper, she had forgotten to pick up.

"What is that?" Kemp asked, while peering at it.

"I think it's the notice form to attain permission of getting help from a tutor," Dune was about to scrunch it up and throw it away, until Kemp stop him from doing so. "What are you doing?"

"I'll take it,"

"Why?"

Kemp shrugged his shoulders, "I might I need it _someday_," He stuffed the paper in his back pocket of his jeans and looked at Dune, "let's go."

**…**

"How are you feeling?" Plovert asked Derrick. The two of them had already changed into suitable clothing for the tryouts. They were now waiting for the Coach to show up and give them instructions on what to do next, while standing around a huddle of the other guys who were trying out. "Nervous?"

"A bit," Derrick gave him a funny looking grin, "I haven't played the game for a while now." His chocolate brown eyes wandered at the back doors where he had spotted Massie leaving, and then back to Plovert "you?"

"No." Plovert snickered, "I'm pretty confident I can still maintain my spot as offence." He whacked Derrick on the shoulder, "dude, seriously, you are way too obvious about your crush on Massie."

"What?" Derrick winced from being hit, "No I'm not. But, if people know now, it's because you announced it pretty loudly."

"Oh yeah sure," Plovert grinned, "it doesn't have to do with anything about your longing stares or when you smile like an idiot whenever she's around," He added sarcastically.

Plovert shifted his eyes around and noticed that Cam was jogging towards them, he turned to Derrick, "but aren't the two of them together again?"

"Yeah," Derrick mumbled, "But does that really matter?" He sounded offended, "one of these days she'll wake up and see what kind of person that ass really is."

"Come on," Plovert blinked at him, "He isn't that bad. I actually got to know him a bit better last year." He pushed his glasses up his nose bridge, "Cam probably acts like that because he's given the power too."

"Huh?"

"Well, you know how Kemp and Dune are," Plovert commented, "those two are pretty much sheeps. Especially, Kemp, he follows Cam everywhere,"

"That doesn't really explain why he needs to be one all the time." Derrick was about add more to the conversation, but clamped his mouth shut as Cam came over where they were.

"Plovert," Cam nodded at him, but ignored Derrick. "Good to see you back," He gave a mischievous grin, "glad to see a lot of returning players; you know how much I _hate_ tryouts. Coach always has to do it, you know to give those who _suck_ a chance, it's just a pity favour. You know what I mean?" Cam stared at Derrick even though the entire conversation was with Plovert.

"Uhhh…" Plovert responded, not knowing what to say.

"I'll talk to you later," Cam nodded again; he noticed Kemp and Dune had finally come to the gym. Cam knew he could walked passed him, but why not have fun? As Cam walked towards his friends, he purposely shoulder pushed Derrick out of the way.

Derrick shook his head, and questioned Plovert, "Still think he's okay?"

Plovert responded back by giving his friend a weak shoulder shrug. "Come on Derrick, let's just focus on warming up," Plovert was about to tell Derrick the basis of warm-ups, but was distracted by a loud and cocky voice.

"DUDE!" It was Kemp's obnoxious voice, his yelling was so loud, causing everyone who was in the gym to turn where the three friends were standing and talking.

"You are so going to get LAID, tonight," Kemp sniggered loudly, "remember to use PROTECTION, Cammie."

"Yeah," Dune snickered, "But try not to USE the WHOLE BOX, like last time."

Cam laughed the loudest, "I know. Massie just loves when I'm down on her." Cam knew that everyone in the gym could hear their conversation, but he didn't care, because knowing that Derrick could overhear everything was _satisfaction_. Cam turned his head slightly and stared directly at Derrick to give his signature smirk.

As soon as Derrick saw the smirk; he felt his blood boiled in anger. He wanted to punch the three of them, who obviously staged their 'conversation' loud enough in order for Derrick to hear it all. He bit his lip though, still quite unsure if the whole thing was fabricated or it was the truth.

Derrick gazed at Plovert with an unreadable expression.

"Okay," Plovert gave his friend a nervous grin and chuckle, "Your _right_. Cam Fisher is an _ass_."

**…**

"Oh god," Claire groaned to herself, the minute she stepped into the gym, she had to see _him_. Why was that everywhere she went, she had to see Cam as well?

With the gym doors closing behind her, Claire quickly glanced at Cam, while making a face. He was with Kemp and Dune; the three formed a mini circle. They were snickering obnoxiously over _something_.

Claire rolled her baby blue eyes to the ceiling.

It was like God was punishing her to see that stupid smirk on his face and his black unkempt and messy hair and his...his …._lean muscles_ every day.

_Oh my god._

Claire felt her cheeks flushing pink, she brought her hands up to her face, and they were heating up fast. She couldn't believe she just day dreamed over Cam Fisher's leaned muscles.

After that embarrassing thought, Claire decided to walk past him and his friends quickly to avoid any confrontation with them, to reach Derrick and Plovert.

But _of course_, Cam just _had _to, call her out.

"Hey, Claire!"

She ignored him and fastened her pace towards her friends. Claire gave a wave to Derrick, as Plovert had his back turned. She watched Derrick smile and waved back.

"Hey," Cam called after her.

"Why are you talking to her?" She heard Kemp asking Cam. Claire could tell that Dune had said something, but she couldn't make it out, and kept on walking.

"Piss off you two." Cam ordered. He watched Claire and her skinny legs walking away from him even farther, and towards Derrick.

Cam grinned, there was no way she could out walk him. He followed Claire with his normal walking speed and when she was in the distance, he grabbed her left arm.

Claire froze as she felt her arm being grabbed. She turned around to see Cam grinning at her deviously, "What?" She barked, "What do you want?"

He still grinned at her, unfazed by her attitude, "I just wanted to say 'hello.'"

"Okay, fine. _Hi_, _hello_, is that it?" Claire snapped. She pushed his arm away to loosen her left arm. She glared at him and his 5 foot 7 frame, "You know you're really _annoying_,"

"You shouldn't be talking," Cam had a smug smile on his face, which Claire wanted to wipe off. "Are you PMSing?"

"Only when _you're_ around," She said, drily.

Claire turned her back on him before he could add anything else, as she came closer to Derrick, she noticed his smile had faded and was replaced by a scowl.

**…**

Derrick marched right up to Claire, "What the hell did Fisher do to you?" He glared at the direction where Cam was standing; Derrick was fuming, but still somehow managed to speak in a calm collective manner. "Are you okay, Claire?"

"Yeah," She held the arm that Cam had grabbed, "Cam claimed that he wanted to say 'hello' to me." Claire air-quoted the word 'hello' and rolled her eyes.

Derrick frowned, "I swear, if _he_ hurts you Claire..." His face dropped as if he had just imagined a scenario, "if he does, tell me."

"I can take care of myself," Claire stood firmly, "especially, if it's dealing with Cam Fisher." She poked Derrick in the stomach and giggled into her palms, "you worry too much, _Derrington_."

"_Claire_," Derrick warned, while giving her a strict look, and it wasn't about the stupid nickname she used and made up since 6th grade. "I'm serious," He looked past Claire's shoulders to spot Cam, Derrick made sure that Cam would catch his harsh glare, unfortunately, Cam was barking at his friends.

"_O-kay_," Claire gave a tight smile, not taking Derrick seriously. "Whatever you say," She grabbed him by the arms, to lead the two of them to their other friend. Claire tapped Plovert by the shoulder to get his attention, "Plovert,"

"Whoa," Plovert widened his hazel eyes and jumped a bit, "You scared me, Claire, what are you doing here?"

She gave the two of them a cheesy grin, "Just to wish the two of you 'good luck'." Claire sighed dramatically and flipped her hair as she turned to Plovert, "of course, you didn't notice Plov. You were too busy ogling the cheerleaders."

"Ha," Plovert sneered, "jealous?" He jokingly punched Claire on her shoulder; Plovert probably shouldn't have, because the two of them started to do their usual playful bickering.

Entirely forgetting about Cam due to watching his friends bicker back and forth, as usual, Derrick had the urge to roll his eyes. They always did this, no matter where they were or what they were doing. Sometimes, he imagined the two of them were married.

All of the sudden, Derrick contorted his face in an odd expression. No, he just couldn't imagine the two of them together. It would be so weird; his best friend and his closest friend, together? That thought made Derrick shudder, it wasn't that he thought Plovert wasn't good enough for Claire. It was just that Derrick wasn't sure Plovert was the one for her.

Derrick was so entwine with his thoughts, he hadn't noticed the two had already finish bickering.

"Yo, Derrick," Plovert snapped his fingers in front of him, with Claire giggling in the background. "You were zoned out for a few minutes."

"Huh?" Derrick's head shot up, "oh, my bad." He said sheepishly. "So Claire—"

_Pffffttt_

It was the sound coming from Coach Davis's whistle. After 13 minutes, he had finally showed up, all red-faced, yet looking very eager. Coach Davis was a small, stocky man, but he knew had to control a crowd and get their attention. "Alright, tryouts are starting NOW! Everyone who's participating in the soccer tryouts come outside, immediately."

"We better go now," Plovert grinned excitedly; he raised his fists to pump them. "See you Claire," Plovert smiled a smile just for her, unfortunately, for him Claire passed it off as a regular one, and just held her hand up.

"Yeah," Derrick nodded at her, "I'll meet you back at the tutoring center after tryouts are over."

Both guys followed the massive crowd of students, participating in the tryouts, only to be pulled back by their quirky blonde-haired friend.

"Wait, you two," Claire pulled one arm from the two of them, causing them to halt. "This is just for 'good luck,'" She tiptoed to maintain the same height as Chris's cheek and gave him a quick peck on his cheek, Claire did the same for Derrick.

"Now you guys can go," She said, pushing them forward a bit roughly.

"Ew, Claire," Derrick childishly stuck out his tongue at her, "why did you have to do that?" A kiss on the cheek was nice, but when it came from Claire, to Derrick, it was just wrong. They were best friends, and besides, he always saw Claire as a close sister.

Claire smirked, "You shouldn't be complaining, at least you got a kiss." She stuck her tongue back to him.

"Burn!" Plovert whooped, "She's got you there, Harrington."

Derrick ignored the jab, and instead socked Plovert on the arm. Their backs were facing Claire for a second, but as he turned around, she was already gone.

Derrick touched his cheek, _Stupid Claire_, he thought.

If he wasn't so caught up about thinking about the relationship between himself and Claire, Derrick would have noticed something.

If he only had turned to his left slightly, he would have noticed Plovert grinning widely, with his hands brought up to his cheeks. Derrick would have also definitely notice a colour of red forming on his friend's cheek.

If he only had looked behind him as well, because if he did, Derrick would have noticed the small frown forming on Cam's face.

_If only..._

But he didn't.

As he only faced one direction.

**…**

"What's up with you and 'tutor girl'?" Kemp asked, when Cam came back to their circle, "why are you talking to her?"

"Yeah, why-"

"Shit, guys." Cam snipped as soon as he had stopped walking, he smacked his hand with his other hand's fist, "why the hell are you guys up my ass?"

"It was just a question." Kemp glowered, "besides, I know you. You wouldn't talk to a girl, unless you were interested in her or you want something from her." He snorted, "Which is it?"

"I bet I know what it is." Dune leered, before letting Cam explain himself; Dune reached for his shark tooth necklace and began twirling it, "it's because of what Alicia told you during lunch, right?"

"Right," Cam said. He acknowledged Kemp's confused look, and sighed, "Alicia told me that Derrick is best friends with 'tutor girl', I mean, Claire."

"So what?" Kemp uttered, looking even more confused. "What does that have to with anything?"

"_Dumbass_, don't you ever think?" Cam flicked his fingers against Kemp's head, "It means that if I start hanging out with Harrington's best friend, I can get information on him," Cam said, flashing a grin, "And since their best friends, she'll know everything about him."

"Oh," Kemp said, still not looking entirely convinced. "How are you going to do that?"

Cam opened his mouth, but once again, Dune beat him to it.

"There's no way she'll tell you," Dune rolled his eyes to indicate obviousness, "Cammie boy, don't you remember she can't stand you?"

"That doesn't matter," Cam gave him a cocky grin, "I'll _make _her _like_ me." He stretched his arms up in the air, "better yet, if I start hanging out with 'tutor girl' and she ends up liking me, it would piss off Harrington,"

"_Yeah_," Dune raised his eyebrows; his voice was filled with doubt, "good luck with that," he added quickly with a small hint of sarcasm.

_Pffffttt_

"Finally," Dune muttered, he dropped his hand that was twirling the shark tooth necklace, and he turned to his friends, "aren't you guys coming?" Dune shifted his head where Coach Davis was, "Coach just called,"

"Nah," Cam waved them off, "you guys go ahead. I just need to tighten my laces, first,"

As Cam bent down, he heard his friend's footsteps walking away from him. Even though his Nike runners were already laced up, he just had to retie the laces again, it was ritual for him. It was a pretty stupid ritual, but Cam felt that it had to be done for every soccer game that was about to happen. He didn't want the exact fiasco in 8th grade to repeat.

Finally finishing, he got up and was surprised to see Kemp still standing there.

"You still here?" Cam cracked his fists, "I thought you left,"

"No," Kemp pulled his wool cap down, "You know I'll wait." He grinned despite Cam making a weird noise at him. Kemp stopped pulling his wool cap and made a quizzical face as he leaned forward to Cam "You know how you said you were going to make 'tutor girl' to like you, how are you going to do that?"

"I'm still not sure," Cam shrugged, "but, I'll find a way." He started doing stretching exercises with his arms; Cam narrowed his coloured eyes at his best friend, "why do you want to know?"

"Cause," Kemp made a face, for the first time, it looked like it was a thinking expression, "Well, if you're trying to persuade her to like you, you're going to spend a lot of time with her, right?" Kemp smirked as if had figured a difficult situation out, "Wouldn't Mass be jealous?"

Cam burst out laughing, "Why would she?" His shoulder shook as did his black messy hair, "There's no way I would ever take an _interest _in 'tutor girl'. I'm just going to use her to get back at Harrington."

"Oh," said Kemp. He turned his head around, staring at something from the distance; while Cam was still working on his stretching exercises. All of the sudden, Kemp nudged Cam in the ribs, not caring that his friend was still stretching.

"What?"

"How can your plan work?" Kemp started adjusting his cap, once again, if Dune's annoying habit was twirling his shark tooth necklace, adjusting his wool cap, was definitely Kemp's. "You and Alicia are wrong. I think Harrington and 'tutor girl' are _more_ than best friends,"

"Wha-?" Cam immediately dropped his arms down and squinted at Kemp, "what the hell are you talking about?"

Kemp just simply pointed at a direction, compensating the action for talking.

Cam started blinking his eyes rapidly. _Shit,_ no. He knew that blinking wasn't going to stop what was happening right in front of them, but Cam didn't know how else to react.

In the far corner of the gym, the two of them, watched as Claire kissed Derrick Harrington on the cheeks.

Cam gritted his teeth, _shit._ If Harrington and Claire AKA 'tutor girl' were more than just best friends, Cam's plan would be ruined.

He ignored the 'what-can-you-do?' look that Kemp was giving him. Cam pushed his friend by his back, "we should go before Coach wonders where we are," Cam muttered.

Kemp just nodded, and started jogging towards the back doors of the gymnasium.

Cam jogged as well; he couldn't help, but stare at the two blondes from where he was. Something about them being together, being more than best friends, felt wrong. Really wrong. It didn't seem right or even natural. For a second, Cam thought he felt a slight twinge in his stomach, he quickly dismissed it though. Usually, if he felt a twinge in his stomach, it meant he didn't like something or in some cases, _jealously_.

Although he quickly dismissed the twinge he felt, Cam couldn't really explain why a frown started to appear on his face.

Maybe the twinge he felt in his stomach was real, after all.

**…**

"You girls are doing it all wrong!" Alicia gave each girl on the team, aside from Kristen, an icy glare. She clapped her hands thunderously, "we _start_ on the _right_ foot, _not _the _left_." Alicia rolled her eyes, "And _seriously? _The back flips are pathetic; the cartwheels need work, and whose bright idea was to reinstate the pyramid?" Alicia stomped her foot down and scowled, this routine had to be perfect, it just had to. "That move was _out_ since three years ago!"

The members of the squad started mumbling and shifting glances at each other. All of them knew how angry Alicia could get, but more some odd reason, today, she kept nitpicking on every little detail with such explosive manner.

"You know, instead of staring at me," Alicia pronounced slowly, annunciating every single word, as if they couldn't understand her, "why don't you guys, I don't know? Like work on your mistakes."

"Geez," Sydney 'Syd' Mcfadden, a senior, who somehow managed to pull off a hot pink streak in her stringy strawberry blonde shoulder length hair, finally broke the tension. "What is with you Rivera? This is our first practice of this year; you can't expect us to create a perfect routine already."

"Yeah," Cara Roe agreed. But then again, she always agreed with everything Syd said, "That's like, impossible."

Alicia sighed in defeat, the two seniors always managed to test her patience. They were damn lucky they took gymnastics when they were young, if they hadn't, Alicia would have thrown them out of the team a long time ago. She sucked in a breath and gave a fake cheery smile, "It's _not_ impossible. At least, _try_."

Alicia held her palm up as a gesture before anyone could have argued with her, "Start over, while me and Kristen watch and rethink what we can change," She quickly glanced at Kristen, whose aqua eyes glanced back, indicating she had heard everything. Alicia rolled her shoulders back, "I'll count you guys back in. Ah five-four-three-two-one,"

She took two steps back, where she could watch the entire routine with full view. Plus, it was where Kristen was standing.

"What's wrong, Leesh?" Kristen asked. Her doll-like eyes were filled with warmth and comfort with a slight twinkle of confusion, "do you really think the routine is that bad?"

"No...," Alicia spoke loudly, _The Wanted's_ "Glad You Came", was blasting from the stereo she had brought for practice, "It's nothing, really." Alicia said, sharply, indicating that nothing else needed to be discussed.

Unfortunately for her, Alicia forgot that Kristen wasn't the brightest at picking up hidden messages.

"It's not?" Kristen eyed her, "if the routine is not that bad, then it must be something else," She smiled, "what is it?" Kristen's grin became wider, "you can tell me."

For a second, Alicia really did consider telling Kristen what was really going on, but she decided against it. Kristen just wouldn't understand, in fact, Alicia wasn't sure if Massie would understand if she did decide to tell her.

Alicia went back to focusing on the squad, "Kris, it's nothing. Let's just focus on the routine." She wanted to change the subject quickly; this was not the time for her own insecurities to show and be discussed, especially in front of the squad. She knew how desperate Cara Roe wanted to be captain of the cheerleading squad, and if the mousy looking girl could ever sense uncertainty, Alicia knew she would take the opportunity and pounce on it.

"Kay," Once again, Kristen's gullible nature was taken advantage.

After three minutes and forty-one seconds, the squad members finished performing their routine. There were mistakes and a few stumbles, but Alicia decided to let it go. She clapped her hands together once again; "I _guess_ it's good enough," Alicia said, unable to hide the tone of irritation from her voice no longer, "Girls, just go outside where the tryouts are taking place."

The cheerleading squad quickly dispersed and followed Alicia's order. Everyone left without Alicia, even Kristen. But that was okay, since Alicia had to clean up the set up.

When the last squad member left through the back doors, Alicia closed her eyes and bit down on her lower lip. She was confused and angry; it really wasn't about the routine. Alicia was confused by the fact, Massie had lied to her. Her best friend told her that Claire Lyons and Derrick Harrington were nothing more than best friends, so why did Alicia see Claire giving Derrick a kiss?

The more she thought about it, Alicia wondered if Massie lied to her to stop her from persuading after Derrick. For some reason, Alicia had a feeling that Massie had a little crush on Derrick, despite being with Cam, still. Just the other day, Massie did say Derrick was gorgeous, and Massie would never say that about anyone didn't really know. And if her best friend did have a thing for Derrick, that pissed Alicia off. If she ever found out that Massie liked Derrick, it would be a repeat of the "Harris Fisher" incident.

"Shit," She glanced at her DKNY watch, Alicia grabbed the mats in a hurry and threw them into the supply closet, with all the thinking of Derrick and Massie she lost track of time.

If Massie had a crush on Derrick, Alicia promised herself she would get Massie to confess one way or another.

That was one promise she would keep and remembered, since Alicia was always good with promises.

**…**

"Hey," Claire gave a huge smile to the only remaining tutor in the room, Dan Burdock. "Sorry, I'm late." She looked around, "I guess it's only me and you, today."

Dan Burdock glanced away from his homework and gazed at Claire, "Yeah, but I think today will be quiet."

She raised her eyebrows at him, "the soccer tryouts?"

He nodded, "Almost everyone is there to tryout or watch."

"That explains why Dempsey is not here."

Dan moaned and rolled his eyes, "Yup, he's so sure that's he going to get in."

Claire laid her hobo purse on the ground, "maybe he will get in," She put down the papers that she had gathered from her locker for the tutoring program on the round table. Claire grinned at Dan, "you should think more positive about your friend, Dan."

"Ha, sure" Dan once again, rolled his gray eyes, "he's only doing it to get into the in-crowd," he said in distaste. "I wonder if he was always like this before he moved here,"

"Maybe or maybe not," Claire began shuffling the papers into a neat stack, "but then again, everyone wants to change themselves, especially during high school." She pushed the paper stack towards Dan, "can you count these?"

"Sure," Dan began to count the papers, "what are these for, anyways?"

"Um," She tilted her head upwards before the thought could come to her mind, "it's the notice forms to allow students to get help from tutors, I believe," Claire grabbed a chair from the table where Dan was sitting, "There should be at least 60 of them. You count those, while I'll organize the schedule on the while board."

Claire pulled the metal chair against the wall of the white board and stepped on it, to write down the tutoring schedule. She began with the days of the week and then added the time.

"Hey, Claire?" Dan looked at her, "Were missing a sheet. We only have 59 sheets of notice forms."

"What?" Claire turned around from facing the whiteboard; she quickly jumped off the chair and went straight to Dan. "Let me count,"

After flipping through the stack of paper, Claire sighed, "I must have dropped one when I left in a hurry."

"What happened?"

She blushed. "It's a long story."

Dan drummed his fingers on the round table, "So, should we photocopy one more?"

Claire thought about it, but decided it was a waste of paper, "No," She brushed him off, "We don't need to. One notice form missing _wouldn'_t make a _difference_, anyways."

**…**

"Nice, very nice," Coach Davis called out, he was beaming, the guys who were trying out were doing well for the difficult soccer drills he had set up. Coach Davis turned to his right, "How are you doing Solomon?" Coach Davis looked at Dempsey who was panting a lot, "Can you keep up?"

"Y-yeah I can." Dempsey said, while catching his breath, "I can do this. I'm just not as fit as some of these guys," He gave a weak smile.

"No, shit," Cam sneered from the front of the group, "Why are you even here fat ass?"

The majority of guys snickered, aside from Derrick, Plovert and few others at the back of the group.

The Coach frowned, "Fisher", he warned, "Let's not cause problems, alright?"

"What?" Cam said, innocently, "I'm just asking a question. Besides, Coach, with someone with his size, we all know it's going to bring down the team."

"Fisher!" Coach Davis blew on his whistle, "enough, now."

But Cam refused to listen, as he kept on making side jokes and snide comments about Dempsey right in front of him. A group of the guys laughed loudly in support of Cam. It wasn't until to Derrick spoke up did Cam finally had shut up.

"Hey, Fisher," Derrick glared at him and stepped forward away from the back of the group, "why don't you knock it off?"

Cam stopped laughing immediately and turned away from his friends to face Derrick, "What's your problem, Harrington?" He too, stepped forward to get away from the cluster of guys in the front, "Am I not allowed to state the truth about fatty over there?"

"There's a difference of stating truth and adding unnecessary comments about people." Derrick spat. "Just knock it off and leave him alone."

"Fine," Cam shrugged, he stared at Dempsey until the larger boy stared at the ground. Cam went back to facing Derrick, "You know what the truth is?" He jabbed Derrick with his fingers by the chest, "You're a douche who can't get any girls to like you," Cam paused, "so you have to go after girls who are already taken." He smirked, "Pretty pathetic."

"Oh, snap!" Kemp hollered in support.

Derrick bit his tongue, "Oh yeah?" He stood up taller, "You are an asshole, who thinks he's all that, but in reality your just a coward," Derrick pushed Cam by the shoulders, "who picks on someone one you know who is down and weaker than you to make yourself feel better."

Cam glared at him, focusing solely on Derrick, "Fuck you, man." He spat, "You know what? I'm wrong. The only girl that you can get to like you, is that blonde haired bitch," Cam licked his lips and smiled deviously, "whose ugl-"

Cam wasn't able to finish his sentence because by the time Derrick heard the word 'bitch' being associated with Claire; he couldn't control himself and lunged at Cam.

"Shit, shit, shit," Coach Davis chanted, he blew his whistle to get the attention of the two of them, "Stop fighting," He tried pulling the two of them apart, when he couldn't, he started turning red. "Hey," Coach Davis roared at the group of guys, "Pull them apart now!"

And with that, the group split in half, one side pulling Cam and the other side pulling Derrick. They were able to get the two of them away from each other.

Coach Davis hovered over the two of them, "I should have known this would happen," He massaged his forehead, "You two sit in the bench," The Coach glared at them, "I'll tell you when you can join us, but in the meantime, sit."

"B-but—"Cam sputtered, "I wasn't the one who started the fight—"

"NOW!"

The two guys walked forward to the bench, claiming one side of it. They expected the Coach to bench them, as their fight was inappropriate and disruptive.

What was unexpected by the two of them was how Chris Plovert marched up to Cam, with an expression Derrick had never seen on his friend before.

Another thing that was unexpected; Plovert punched Cam right in the face.

"Oh, shit." Coach Davis muttered, when he saw what Plovert had done, "what the hell is wrong with these boys?"

* * *

><p><strong>Disclaimer: Lisi Harrison owns the Clique<strong>

**This chapter was originally way longer, but I split it in half. ****No Massington scene, ._. since it was in the last half of the original chapter. (the scene is in chapter 7)**

**I have to apologize, I fiddled with changes for this chapter, so I kept on deleting it and adding a new chapter in it's place. So, now I understand why some of you guys are confused. Sorry about that! But, thank-you to the lovely reviewer(s) who pointed out my problem/mistake.**

**I wasn't thinking, (LOL) I didn't 'replace' the chapter with the an updated version of it. Instead, I deleted it and just added a newer one. Hopefully, this will not happen again.**

**BTW I giggled when I read your comments, (but in a good way!) So thank-you :)**

**What do you think so far? What about Plovert's crush? (TBH, I'm a bit 'iffy' about it, but I guess wanted to add more 'dynamic' to the story. Oh god, ._. I just made a lame joke.)**

**It's a few days late, but this chapter was so dedicated to the final episode of OTH! Did you guys watch it? :D**

**Read and Review please? :)**

**Title by Andrew Belle's song 'Open Your Eyes'.**


	7. Your Direction

_I'll be seeing you._

_-Lucas Scott (to Peyton Sawyer)_

**…**

"Oh my god," Kristen shrieked, she grabbed Alicia's arm. If it were anyone else besides Kristen, many people would have deemed that person 'crazy'. Somehow, even though her arms were flailing everywhere and her shrieking, with her high-pitched voice, Kristen still managed to pull off her reaction, as being cute-like."Did you see what happened?"

The cheerleading squad was about to perform their routine in front of the guys, until a commotion had started between Derrick and Cam, distracting them. This caused Alicia to stop the squad from performing.

"Well," Alicia said in an obvious tone, "_yeah_. I did stop us from performing."

Kristen cocked her head to the side, "Oh right," She started fiddling with her hair bun, "I wonder why Cam and Derrick started fighting."

"..._me too,_" Alicia said, in a small voice. Unknown to Kristen though, Alicia had a feeling on why the commotion started. If the two guys were fighting again, it must have been about _Massie._ After all, the two _fought_ about her in the morning, so it must have been the same reason.

Although there was one odd variable that threw that assumption out of the window. For some strange reason, Chris Plovert got involved in the confrontation when he punched Cam in the face.

_How odd._

Alicia tried not to make a face, she didn't understand what all the guys saw in Massie over _her._ Now Chris Plovert had a thing for Massie? _Great._

Three guys vying for her best friend. Alicia pouted at the thought. It wasn't like she thought her best friend was plain-looking, in fact, Alicia believed Massie was really pretty, but everyone, even Massie herself, told _Alicia_that she was _beautiful_.

Maybe she emphasized on looks too much, maybe people were also attracted to Massie's personality? But then again, Alicia, herself, believed she had a great personality as well.

Alicia sighed, it was strange, the moment this year had started, she became really _insecure_ about herself. Why would she, though? She had everything going on for her, looks, money, friends, popularity, intelligence and a home.

The more she thought about it though; she was missing one thing from the list, a _boyfriend_. Well, more specifically, _Derrick Harrington_.

While Kristen started chatting with the other girls, Alicia whipped her head to check Derrick out. He was sitting on the wooden bench faraway from Cam, but near Chris Plovert. All of the sudden, he looked up where Alicia was, and when he did; he gave her a small smile. Alicia got goose bumps when she saw it, but she shook it off, to give him a flirtatious smile.

"Okay girls," Alicia announced as soon as she whipped her head back, "it's time to start our routine." She grinned confidently; their routine should be a reason for the guys to be interested in.

If Derrick watched their routine with interest, perhaps he would notice her skills and leadership qualities. Maybe he would even take an _interest_ in her. Alicia hopefully thought, and _not Massie_, ever again.

**…**

Coach Davis blew his whistle and motioned Derrick, Plovert and Cam to come where he was. He gave the three of them a stare down and shook his head disappointedly, "There won't be any more trouble I assume?"

The three of them silently bobbled their heads up and down in agreement.

"Good," Coach Davis nodded in approval, "There better not be. Or you three won't even be _on_the team, understood?"

Cam sighed, "Yes, Coach," He said begrudgingly.

Coach Davis shifted his focus onto Derrick and Plovert, "How about you two?"

"Understood," Derrick mumbled.

Plovert just nodded his head.

"Good. Now you three join the others in the drill. I want you guys to practice in scoring some goals," The Coach pointed where the next drill was taking place, "we will be switching positions. So each player can get a chance of being the goalie as well." He gave them a grim smile, "Now, get to it!"

_Pffffttt_

**…**

Massie anxiously glanced at the time that was provided by her Mercedes.

It read 4:03 p.m.

The art show had ended earlier than she expected. She sighed aloud, Cam told her that the tryouts wouldn't end until 4:45, now that she had more than 40 minutes to spare, Massie wasn't sure what to do.

She started the engine of the car and adjusted her seating and the mirrors. Massie decided to drive back to the school, slowly, to kill some time.

She passed the intersection which was where; she came across a construction man and his crew.

"Ma'am," The man said, as soon she rolled down her window, "You can't drive here, we're fixing the road."

"Oh," Massie blinked at him, unexpectedly. "Um, so which direction will lead me back to Westchester high?"

"Turn a left here and then go straight on Rosewood Street; it should bring you back to the high school."

"Thanks,"

Massie followed the man's instructions and turned left. As she did, she saw the street sign, 'Rosewood'. She drove straight as he instructed her too, but what didn't prepare her to be ready for was that she had heard a noise that sounded similar to a flat tire.

_Boom._

Massie quickly glanced at the side mirrors, "Oh, hell no."

She stopped the ignition and got out of the car.

She was right. Her car got a flat tire.

"Are you serious?" Massie grunted. She kicked the back tire that was on the left side with her kitten heels to see if it really was flat.

More air came out the tire, the tire was long gone.

Massie dropped her shoulders and pouted, she never carried a spare tire and even if she did, Massie never learned how to change a flat.

She raced back in her car to grab her cell phone to call a car mechanic, but then she remembered, she never inputted any car mechanic company's number.

"Shit," Massie leaned her against the head rest and closed her eyes, how could she be so stupid and forgetful?

There was only one thing she could think of.

Massie dialed in Cam's number, she knew it would be a long shot if he answered since tryouts wasn't over yet. The ringing ended and went straight to voice mail.

"Hi, Cam, I know you won't hear this until much later, but, um, as soon as your tryouts are over can you pick me up at Rosewood Street? My car got a flat, so I'm basically stuck here. That's all I wanted to say, and I hope you did well. Call or text me as soon as tryouts are over."

She sent a text message for backup, just in case Cam didn't listen to her voice message she had left him.

She sighed once again, the only thing that came out that was positive was the fact that she could kill time doing whatever in her car.

So she waited.

But what Massie didn't know what would eventually happen, was that she would have to wait for a long time before anyone would pick her up.

**…**

"Okay, Harrington," Coach called out, "this is your chance to display your skills," He blew his whistle as a signal for Derrick to start shooting in the goal. "Let's see it."

"Right," Derrick raced towards the field where there was a lineup of soccer balls. He kicked them forcefully and was able to get the majority in the net.

"Nice," Coach Davis said, "Especially your corner kick and the last high one there." He patted Derrick on the shoulder once he came back to join the group, "I forgot to ask you, what position do you want to play for?"

Derrick smirked at Cam when he heard the question, "center." He stated confidently.

The Coach arched his eyebrows in surprise, "that's a first." Coach Davis chuckled, "I haven't heard anyone going for the center position for a long time, since Fisher here joined." Coach Davis turned to Cam, "and since were on topic, it's your turn to shoot, Fisher."

"Yeah, yeah," Cam hustled to the field.

Plovert rolled his eyes at Cam after he had left the group and turned to Derrick, "Good job, Derrick you're probably the only one hear who can give Fisher a run."

"Thanks," Derrick panted a little bit, "hopefully." He shifted his weight on one foot, "Uh, Plovert what was that punch for?" He then gave a sly smile, "Not that I'm saying Fisher didn't deserve it."

"Punch?" Plovert turned white, "Oh, it was for... _Claire._" He blushed furiously, yet, somehow Derrick still didn't notice.

Derrick grinned, "Claire?" He punched Plovert on the arm, "it's a good thing she has a good friend like you."

"Yeah," Plovert said in a defeated tone, "_friend._"

They stopped talking to watch Cam run to the field where the soccer balls were lined up again. Cam was able to get all the soccer balls in the goal, except for the last one.

"So, what do you think Coach?" Cam asked, once he raced back. He had a cocky grin on his face, he knew had done well. _Even_ Plovert admitted it to Derrick.

"Excellent," Coach Davis beamed, "I still have to take in other things for consideration though." He checked his watch, "I think tryouts are done for the day, I'll let you guys leave early."

The crowd of guys hollered in celebration and quickly charged back at the gym to change out of their gym clothing. Derrick and Plovert did the same, until they heard Coach Davis calling after them.

"Harrington," Coach Davis yelled after him, "You stay behind,"

Derrick looked at Plovert as they stopped walking, "Uh, I guess I'll meet you at the tutoring center?"

"Yeah," Plovert nudged Derrick by the shoulder and ran off.

Derrick waited until Coach Davis had caught up with him.

"I just want to say," The Coach paused, "Your skills, they are very impressive." He grinned at Derrick, "I haven't seen that kind of level of skills from a player for a long time." Coach Davis started walking and gestured Derrick to do the same, "keep up the good work and you even might be able to get center position."

"Thanks," Derrick said, unable to keep the shock out of his voice.

"You're welcome," Coach Davis turned around to inspect the field and then slapped his forehead with his hand, "I forgot. Can you pick up the cones that I left and bring them in the gym?" His hands were full since he had collected most of the equipment that was used for the drills.

"Sure,"

Derrick jogged away from Coach Davis and started to collect the bright orange cones that were scattered around the fields; unknown to him though, was Cam, holding a bag of soccer balls right behind him glaring at Derrick's back as he had heard the entire conversation between him and the Coach.

Although once Cam flipped the bag upside down, his expression changed. He now had evil smirk on his face as he knew he would be able to _hit_his _target_ with his kicks.

**…**

"Are you leaving?" Claire widened her eyes at Dan. She watched him pack his things into his laptop bag. She casually glanced at the enormous clock that was set up in the tutoring room. "It's only 4:32p.m."

Dan laughed out loud, "face it Claire, no one else is coming." He popped a spearmint gum into his mouth and stuffed the wrapper in his jacket pocket, "you can leave too,"

"I can't," Claire heard herself whine, "I have to wait for Derrick."

"Oh," Dan grinned, "can't you just phone him? He'll probably understand that you want to leave."

She pouted, "I wish. But I don't have a cell phone." Claire let out a heavy breath, "I might as well stay. Who knows? Maybe someone will come in for a late tutoring session."

"Well, I hope so, for your sake, Claire," Dan said, before leaving the room.

Claire frowned as she watched Dan leave. My god who was she kidding? Only one student had come in today, and that was it. She was dying of boredom, hopefully Derrick would have been done by now and so they could leave to go home.

Claire wanted to leave so badly, alone with herself; she only had her own thoughts racing through her head to entertain herself.

So many thoughts, yet for some reason, the thought of the one _missing_ notice form kept _popping_ up.

**…**

"What the hell?" Derrick all of the sudden felt a burning pain in his back and then the back of his head. He turned around to see Cam not far away from him, kicking the soccer balls directly at him.

"Hey, Fisher!" Derrick yelled, "What the fuck is your problem?" He quickly dodged a soccer ball that was aimed right at his face.

"Nothing," Cam calmly said, "I'm just practicing my _shots_." Cam took a few steps backwards and kicked the soccer ball as hard as he could, aiming for Derrick's face once again.

Cam tired not to look to happy, but he knew what the outcome would be. There was no way Derrick had enough time to dodge this one.

**…**

"Oh, Christ," Coach Davis murmured as he opened the door of the supply room, he realized he had forgotten to bring his clipboard in with him. He quickly dropped off the gym equipments that were used for the drills into the room.

As he approached the back doors, he saw Cam Fisher getting ready to kick a soccer ball that was aiming right at Derrick Harrington's face.

Coach Davis was familiar with that stance. It was the kicking stance that Cam usually used when he was preparing to go for a goal. And Cam's kicks were hard, the last time someone got in the way of it, it was a bloody mess.

Coach bit his lip and ran to the field quickly, there was no way Derrick could dodge it or block it, there was just no way.

In all the 20 years Coach had taught in Westchester High, this had to be the first time he spoke too soon, because what he saw astounded him.

Derrick Harrington blocked the soccer ball from hitting his face by catching it with his bare hands.

_Interesting._

Coach Davis couldn't help, but smile a bit. The Westchester Tomahawks might have just found their _star_ _goalie._

**…**

"Are you alright?" Alicia approached Derrick, cautiously. She witnessed the entire fight between Derrick and Cam alone since the cheerleading squad members all left. Alicia would have been in the changing room with the others by now, but she was always known to be a slow walker. She glanced at Derrick's hands, they were bright red. "I can't believe you just caught the ball like that."

"It burns a bit, but I'm fine," Derrick said to her, while examining his hands, they were throbbing. He looked up in time to view Cam being scolded by Coach Davis. As the scolding had finished, Cam must have been told off, as the black-haired boy went straight to the back doors of the gym, scowling.

"Um," Alicia said, catching Derrick's attention, "I know this maybe a bad timing, but I was wondering if you would like to go to 'Karen's Diner'?" She started playing with her high pony tail, "You know as a celebration for getting over the tryouts," Alicia giggled, "which by the way, you gave a great tryout."

"Oh," Derrick sounded dumbfounded, "thanks. I don't know...I can'—"

"You don't need to give me answer, right away," Alicia interrupted, she smiled, "I'll tell you what?" She stopped walking to block him from going any farther, "I'll meet you outside the boy's changing room where you can tell me your answer," She suddenly grabbed Derrick's hand and started swinging them with hers, "I promise Cam won't be there if you go, it will just be some of the other soccer guys and some cheerleaders." Alicia gave him a light squeeze before letting go, "It will be fun. I promise."

Derrick gave a light nod, "Okay." He finally said, "I'll meet you outside with an answer."

"Great," Alicia grinned, "I'll see you then." She flounced away from him happily.

Once she was out of the picture, Derrick started combing his fingers through his hair. Claire would understand, right? In all honesty, a little part him, did want to go to the diner and hang out with other students.

Derrick sighed, not knowing what to do.

Yet, in the next few minutes, Derrick would have a clear answer of what he would be doing.

**…**

Cam barged in the boy's changing room cursing under his breath. He scowled out loud, Coach and his useless lecture was a waste of time. So what if he wanted to harm Derrick Harrington deliberately? Something about that guy made Cam uneasy, but who could blame him?

Derrick Harrington, the guy, just shows up the beginning of this year and it already caused problems. Cam knew Derrick had a thing for Massie and he did try to take her away, if it was not for the conversation Cam had with Massie outside the library, who knows what would have happened? Not only that, but Derrick wanted his place on the soccer team. There was no way Cam would let those two things happen.

Cam had a plan to agitate Derrick, although he still wasn't quite sure if it would work. Knowing that Claire was Derrick's best friend, Cam was still figuring out a way to hang out with her and convince the girl to like him. But from what he saw in the gym today, he still wasn't sure if Claire and Derrick were going out or what not.

He smacked the closet locker with his fist out of anger and frustration. Cam closed his multi-colour eyes and bit the insides of his cheeks, how could one person cause such problems and change everything?

Cam sighed, brushing the thought out of his head. He would figure out something soon, but right now he just wanted to leave. Cam walked around the corner, surprise to see Kemp still there.

"Why are you still here?"

Kemp turned around, looking startled, "Shit, you scared me." He was still in his gym sweats, and was now opening the gym locker, "I got distracted from talking with the other players,"

"Oh," Cam reached his locker and started dialing the lock. "Dune left already?"

"Yeah, you know him." Kemp grabbed his sports bag that was holding his everyday outfit, "He had surfing lessons at five, so he left as soon as he changed."

Kemp walked backwards and sat on the aluminum bench. He started taking off his runners and looked at Cam, "You heading home?"

Cam turned to face Kemp, before fully opening his locker door, "No, going to the diner to hang out with the others, aren't you?" He turned away quickly to reach his sports bag and his water bottle.

"Yeah of course I'm going." Kemp took off his jersey. He rummaged through his bag, to get his hoodie out. Once he pulled his hoodie down, Kemp raised both of his eyebrows at Cam, "I'm surprised you're going, though."

Cam took a swig of water from his bottle before answering Kemp, "why?" He closed his locker door and threw his sports bag on the bench, while holding his water bottle, "we always go to 'Karen's Diner' after anything soccer-related,"

He heard his friend let out a nervous chuckle, "what?"

"I guess you didn't hear," Kemp said, "apparently, Alicia invited Harrington to hang out at the diner as well," He blinked at Cam, whose face was searching for an explanation from him, "I overheard some of the guys talking about how Alicia mentioned that she wanted to get to know Harrington better during class. They were discussing about it when you were still outside,"

Cam dropped his water bottle in shock. Thankfully, only drips of water splattered everywhere on the ground since Cam finished most of the water. He lowered his eyes at Kemp, "Are you sure?"

"Positive,"

"_Fuck_," Cam snapped. He scooped down to pick up his water bottle and slammed it against the bench. "What the hell is Alicia thinking?" He glared at the surroundings, including Kemp, "Harrington is like a fucking virus. Not only did he tryout for the team, now he's trying to hang out with our group? He's spreading everywhere." Cam moped as he leaned against his locker.

Kemp shrugged, "what can you do?" He flipped his sports bag upside down, causing his black jeans to fall out. His jeans landed on the ground with a thud. Kemp quickly swiped his jeans off the ground and noticed the folded white paper had fell out of the back pocket of his jeans and landed near Cam's foot.

"What's this?" Cam reached for the paper. He looked down to read it and back up to stare at Kemp.

Kemp blanched, "That's mine," He stuck out his arm, hoping that Cam would give it back.

Cam bit down on his lip and read the sheet one more time carefully. As he did, his eyes bulged. "Holy shit," Cam said loudly, "Do you know what this is?"

"Yeah," Kemp nodded meekly, "Can you give it back? I need it."

Cam ignored his friend and smiled deviously, "Do you what this means? If I can get Burns to sign it, I can get 'Tutor girl' to "tutor" me." He sat down on the bench looking at the notice form, grinning. "This is better than a frickin golden ticket to the chocolate factory."

"But that's mine," Kemp punched Cam in the arm, "I need it."

Cam studied his best friend's face, Kemp actually looked serious. But Cam brushed it off and burst out laughing, "Why do you need it? When did you start caring about your grades?"

"I just _do_."

Cam shook his head, defensively, "No way. I need this way _more_ than you," He quickly changed out of his gym sweats, stuffing them into his sports bag. As he stuffed his bag into his locker, Cam grabbed his leather jacket and put it on, "Kemp," He said slowly, "If I use this, I can get "Tutor girl" to tutor me and convince her to like me, I can piss off Harrington. And hopefully when I do, he'll leave the team and our group," Cam locked his locker, "You understand, right?"

"I guess so," Kemp mumbled.

"Good." Cam smiled; he slung his backpack he got out the locker, over his shoulders. Cam made a face at Kemp before walking out the room, "That's why you're my 'BFF'," He said, trying his best to imitate a girly voice, laughing. Cam looked over his shoulders as he walked out of the room, "I'm still going to the diner whether Harrington is going to be there. I'll meet you there."

Cam finally left the room, leaving Kemp all alone.

Once he knew he was finally alone, Kemp rolled his eyes; he needed that tutoring notice more than Cam. He was going to use the notice to actually be tutored, not using it to pretend to be tutored like Cam. Kemp's grades weren't the best, and Principal Burns already had a secret meeting with him and his parents. If he failed one more class, Kemp would be kicked out of the school.

He gulped.

Kemp started packing his things up and notice a flashing red light. To his astonishment, Kemp realized Cam dropped his phone out of his pocket. He knew if he ran, he could catch up to Cam to give his phone, but for some reason Kemp didn't feel like it.

Just because they were "BFF's" didn't mean they had to give in to everything for each other, right?

**…**

It was pouring rain.

The moment the clock struck 4:57 p.m, grey clouds formed. At first it was a light drizzle, now at 5:09 p.m. it was really pouring.

Massie groaned. It was more than 20 minutes since tryouts were over. So why hadn't Cam called?

She was getting desperate. And surprisingly, not one car drove on the route.

Massie dug out her phone from her purse, again. She called Cam, but he wasn't picking up. She sent him a few more messages. He didn't answer.

She clucked her tongue, maybe he forgot to turn on his phone? But then again, Cam always left his phone on. And even today, before she left, he did say to call him if Massie needed anything.

She dialed his number once again. And _shocker-!_ It went straight to voice mail.

"Cam," Her voice hardened as she mentioned his name, "I know by now, tryouts are over, and you're probably with the others at the diner, but can you please pick up your phone? I need you, okay?"

Massie hung up the phone bitterly. She glanced at the clock; it was now 5:11 p.m.

If it turned 5:15 and Cam still hadn't called or text back, Massie decided she would get someone else's help.

But who?

Alicia would most likely be at the diner with the others. But she didn't drive to school. Kristen took the bus today, Dune would be at surfing lessons by now and Kemp's car couldn't hold that many people.

Well, she did still have one more option.

Derrick Harrington's number.

He wrote it in her schedule, with her purple fuzzy pen, big, yet boyish-like.

Massie grabbed her schedule and turned to the page, it was there, right in front of her. All had to do now was input his number in.

She was about to, but stopped herself. Massie became insecure in the moment, what happened if Derrick didn't pick up like Cam?

She dug her nails into her leather seat; she needed a sign, anything to make sure if this was the absolute right decision.

And when she heard the sound of thunder, alerting her. Massie looked up and saw the clock.

It was 5:15.

She got her sign and dialed in the number.

**…**

Derrick entered the boy's changing room. No one was in there much to his surprise. He quickly reached his locker and opened it. Maybe he was rushing a bit too much, but he was excited. Despite almost telling Alicia 'no' for not going to the diner, Derrick decided that his answer was 'yes'. He wanted to venture out and hangout with other students since he did take an absence for a year.

He took off his gym sweats and replaced them with the clothing he had worn in the morning originally. Derrick shoved his gym attire in his locker and grabbed his shoulder bag. He had to text Plovert what was going on.

**Derrick: Plov, going to 'Karen's Diner' with other ppl. Can you drive Claire home? Thx.**

His fingers hovered on top of the 'send' button. Before he could send his text, his phone vibrated. Derrick looked at his iPhone's screen, an unknown number popped up.

He scrunched his face in confusion, not sure if he should pick it up.

Derrick shrugged. Maybe it was his mother calling from North Carolina with a new phone she bought?

He lingered for a few seconds as he watched his phone screen flash, _oh what the hell_, he thought. Derrick clicked on the 'accept' button.

"Hello?"

His chocolate brown eyes widened in delight, when he realized who was on the other line.

"_Massie?_"

**…**

Alicia could hardly contain her excitement, and it showed. She was bouncing up and down and flicking her high pony tail side to side. She grinned at the thought that Derrick Harrington would be coming to hang out with her (okay so there would be others, but who cares?) at the diner. _Finally_, could she get to know him better and he could get to know her.

She knew that Cam might spoil the fun due to his extreme dislike with Derrick, but _screw Cam_. If he did anything remotely on purpose to jeopardize her time with Derrick, Alicia would make sure she would tell Massie. If there was one person that could talk some sense into Cam, it was her best friend.

Alicia giggled to herself; this was the perfect time to talk to Derrick alone. She couldn't talk to him during French class since she was stuck with Chris Plovert as her partner. Plus, his seat was so far away from theirs. There were so many things she wanted to say to him and now she could.

Her enormous brown orbs searched around the gymnasium wondering where Derrick was. Alicia began rocking her heels back and forth, a usual habit of hers. She turned her head in directions, but finally settled onto one when she heard a door slamming to her right.

Alicia smiled as soon she saw that Derrick was the one who slammed the door of the changing room. When he came closer, Alicia flashed him a toothy smile, "hey,"

"Hey,"

She glanced at him, "So you're coming right?" Alicia started babbling excitedly before Derrick could get a word in, "My _friend_, Scott, will be able to drive us to the diner, so you don't need to waste your gas. But if you want, I wouldn't mind sitting in your car directing you to the place." She winked at him.

"Alicia,"

"Yes?" She answered eagerly.

"I...I can't go." Derrick blinked at her, while gripping his shoulder bag strap. "Something...came up."

Alicia felt her mouth drop open, but quickly closed it, "What...came up?"

"Claire, my friend," Derrick said, "She just called me, saying that she was late for a dentist appointment that she forgotten about," He stared at the ground for a moment, and then back to Alicia. "I'm sorry, Alicia, maybe next time?"

"_Sure_," Alicia said in false cheery tone. She gave him her best cheery smile she could muster.

"Thanks for understanding," Derrick grinned, he suddenly took out his phone from his jeans. "Oh," He glanced at the incoming text he received. His eyes shot up and glanced at Alicia, "its Claire. I better go now." He quickly shoved his phone into his pockets, "See you, Alicia."

"Bye," Alicia felt her smile growing bigger. Derrick must have thought Alicia was very understanding, but he was dead wrong. Whenever her smile grew big, Alicia was pissed off.

She watched Derrick jog out the gym.

So maybe her eyes weren't going bad as she originally thought, because as soon as she saw the flashing text from Derrick's phone, Alicia knew he had lied to her.

Because the phone number of the incoming text was none other than Massie's.

**…**

Plovert perched himself on top of circular wooden table that was in the tutoring center. He and Claire were waiting for Derrick to arrive, who for a strange reason was sure taking his sweet time.

Plovert watch Claire as she went around the room organizing any stacks of paper that looked lopsided or messy.

There was something about his friend that he found so _appealing_. Plovert knew that Claire wasn't like any other girls who went to the school, she was unique, a one-of-kind. Maybe that's why he fell for her so fast. He didn't know when he started crushing on her, but it was probably last year since they did get to spend a lot of time with each other, as Derrick was away.

Just then, his phone vibrated. Plovert opened the text message he received.

Derrick: Plov, something came up. Can you drop Claire home? Thx.

"Claire," Plovert called to her.

"Yeah?" Claire turned away from what she was doing.

"We can go."

She stared at him, "We can? What about Derrick?"

"He just texted me that 'something came up'," Plovert air-quoted, "So I'll be driving you home," He grinned at her, "That's fine with you right?" He asked teasingly.

Claire pretended to look shock, "Of course," She stuck her tongue at him, "we're good friends, who stick with each other through anything." Claire gathered her hobo purse and smiled at him, "right?"

"Yup," Plovert nodded his head. He got off the table and gave Claire a friendly push to go out the door, "I'll _always_ have your back, Claire. Remember that."

…

"Hurry up, Alicia!" Kristen yelled at her from where Scott's car was parked, "You're so slow."

Alicia ignored her friend. She wasn't going to run, they just had to wait. But, she giggled as she hurried her walking pace. It was funny hearing Kristen call her 'slow', when; well, Kristen was pretty slow herself, mentally.

"I'm coming," Alicia stomped her way to the car. She couldn't help it if her stomps were loud; she was still pissed about the whole "Derrick and Massie ordeal." Not only did Massie lie about Derrick and Claire's so-called 'relationship', her best friend didn't even mention that she was texting Derrick Harrington?

She bit on her lips, angrily. Maybe it wasn't so bad, Alicia knew with this piece of information she could twist the story around, and casually mentioned it to Cam when she saw him or needed too.

**…**

The rain was no longer pouring, but there was still a slight drizzle.

"Rosewood Street," Derrick murmured to himself. He only drove on that specific street once, so it was taking him a long time to find it. He decided to take a gamble and turn left.

His gamble paid off as he saw the familiar brunette in her Mercedes.

Derrick pulled his car in and parked behind Massie. He unbuckled his seatbelt and got out of his car.

"Massie," He knocked on her car door. "Um, what's the problem?"

Derrick took a step back as Massie finally open the door.

"Derrick!" Massie squealed, she unbuckled her seatbelt and gave him a light hug as soon as she stepped out of the car. "Thank-you for coming, I didn't think anybody would show up." She pulled out of the hug quickly, realizing what she had done. "Even with the rain and the sun going down, you still came." Massie shot him a smile, "thanks,"

"N-no problem," Derrick looked away, unable to face her with his face blushing pink. When his face cooled down, he was glanced at her. "What's wrong with your car, again?"

"Right, I didn't explain to you over the phone." She walked over to back of her car and pointed at the wheel, "I got a flat and I don't have a spare." Massie shot him a guilty look, "And plus, I don't know how to change a flat."

Even with the rain droplets wetting him, making him cold and the appearance of the dark sky. Derrick started chuckling.

"What?" She asked, she didn't sound angry, Massie actually sounded a bit amused.

"I don't carry a spare." Derrick laughed. He shot her an equally guilty look, but still smiled, "And truthfully, I never really learned how to how change a flat."

"Oh," Massie gazed at the sky and then back to Derrick's chocolate eyes. The moment they met, she burst out laughing as well. "So we're stuck out here?"

"Basically,"

They both started laughing all over again.

When Derrick was able to control himself, he waved his phone at her. He gave her a cheeky grin, "Don't worry I can call my Uncle. He's a mechanic."

"Really?" Massie said with interest, she leaned her back against her car. Her head shot up quickly and she gave Derrick a funny look. "Wait, your Uncle is a mechanic and you don't know how to change a flat?"

Derrick shrugged and laughed, "Let's just say I get distracted easily." He started punching numbers in his phone. "I'm going to call him, now." He started waving his phone at Massie again, "why don't you sit in my car? You can dry off."

"No it's okay," Massie insisted, "It's just rain. It won't kill me."

"Suit yourself." Derrick walked over to the side and made his call.

Massie hummed to herself while Derrick made his call. Out of curiosity, she whipped out her phone to see if Cam answered her texts at all.

_Are you serious?_

Her inbox was empty.

Massie pouted and look up to the grey sky. She wondered if getting back with Cam was the right choice. When he pulled her out of the library this afternoon, he told her he would _always_be there for whatever she needed. So where was Cam now?

But, then there was Derrick Harrington. The guy, she noticed since ninth grade, but who disappeared for the entire sophomore year. The two of them only started talking yesterday, yet every time there was an incident or problem involving herself, Derrick always seemed to be there for her.

Massie wondered if it was coincidence or fate. Maybe—

"Hey," Derrick announced not knowing he had broken her thoughts, "My Uncle won't be here for about 10 minutes," He placed himself against beside Massie. "So it won't only be me and you for now."

"Okay,"

If there was any indication of a sign, Massie wanted or needed. She sure missed it big time, because as soon as Derrick plopped right beside her, the _rain_ had _stop_.

**…**

"Well, looked who decided to show up," Alicia said, she spotted Cam coming towards their group usual table. "We didn't think you would show up."

"Why not?" Cam answered with a sheepish grin, "I made a mistake on the last turn here." He shook his leather jacket to get any water droplets out, "Damn weather. It was pouring raining and now it stopped." He raised his arms to catch the attention of a waitress.

"Yes?" She asked when she finally arrived to their table. "What would you like?"

"I'll have the original hamburger with a side of large fries. And, chocolate shake." He winked at the waitress when she finished scribbling his order, causing her to blush.

Cam turned to face his friends, smirking. "That bitch totally loves it when I give her attention." He looked past his shoulders to get a glimpse of the butterscotch blonde-haired waitress again, "But I wouldn't blame her you know? I don't think anybody would give her a time of day."

Alicia rolled her eyes when Cam faced them again, "God, you can be such an asshole, Fisher." She reached over the table to smack Cam in the arm, "And that's for flirting with other girls even though you're still with Mass."

Kristen made a strange face at Alicia, "Leesh, but weren't you just talking about Massie and Der—!" She zipped her mouth as Alicia kicked her under the table and mouthed the words 'not now' to her.

Cam studied the girls' expression, but decided to drop it. He turned his attention to Scott Moore, who was sitting beside Alicia, "Where's Crane?"

"Landon?" Scott crinkled his eyes, "He left right after soccer. I think he needed to do something at home." He threw his arm around Alicia, who stiffened. Scott was too dense to notice, "what about Kemp?"

"Yeah," Danny Robbins, a senior and defence player, said enthusiastically, "Where is your partner in crime? He's practically always behind you or beside you."

"Kemp?" Cam snorted. "I don't know I left before him." He swiped a curly fry from Danny's platter and threw it in his mouth. "He knows how to get here by himself, anyways."

Danny grabbed his platter of curly fries closer to him, "Eat your own food when it gets here." He popped a fry in his mouth, "You know Cam I'm surprise you even showed up."

"Why?" Cam glared. "Cause of Harrington?"

"Yeah and the fact that Ma—"

He ignored Danny and focused on Alicia. Cam glared at her, "What the hell were you thinking Alicia? Why the hell would you invite that douche to our group?"

Alicia looked up from examining her nails to face the angry looking boy. She pushed any loose strands of her hair behind her ear, delicately. "I just wanted to get to know him better, Cam." She sucked in a breath. "Well, you can relax. He's not going to show up."

Cam smirked. "That's not surprising. It shows what kind of person he is." He scrunched a napkin into a ball and threw it at Alicia's head. "You, seriously, always and have the _worse_ taste in guys."

Kristen's aqua eyes bulged, Danny dropped the fries he had in his palms onto the table and Scott had his mouth hanging. If there was one thing that was not to discuss out in the open it was Alicia's taste in guys. She always pride herself as a 'great catch', but for the majority of the relationships Alicia in, she was always the one who broke it off, even though she would state to her friends that the relationship would always last longer than the last.

Alicia felt her eyes twitch, but she still gave a big smile. "Well, I should say the same thing about _Massie_." She clapped her hands together, "Which by the way, _where is she?_ I mean, tryouts were over—" She glanced at her phone screen, "more than 30 minutes ago, you would think that she would have called you or texted saying that she arrived home safe, right?"

Cam started to laugh, but quickly paled. "Shit," He reached in his pockets, "fuck," Cam swore, "where the hell is my phone?" He stood up from the seat and started searching through his pockets frantically.

"He is in so much shit, with Mass," Danny whispered to Scott as he and the others watched the black-haired boy panic.

Alicia just giggled deviously in agreement and Kristen, who surprisingly, knew what was going on, spoke up.

"Maybe you left your phone somewhere at school."

Cam sighed in defeat. "Maybe or I prob—"

"Yo, Cam!"

The friends turned their attention to where the voice was coming from.

Kemp barged into the diner throwing the front doors with force, holding Cam's phone. "You left this in the changing room."

"Give it here," Cam snatched his phone away. Colour returned to his cheeks once he saw text messages from Massie. He turned to Alicia with a cocky grin, "You're wrong." He showed her the numerous amounts of messages in his inbox, "She did text me."

Alicia, this time, smirked. "Why don't you actually _read_ the messages?"

"Fine," Cam shrugged. He scrolled through the messages and once again, colour drained from his cheeks. "_Shit_."

He grabbed his backpack from the ground, "I have to go,"

"Why?" Scott asked. "Your food is not even here yet,"

"Massie she's—" Cam just shook his head, "I just have to go." He took off quickly almost bumping into the waitress he gave his orders to.

"Oh," She widened her eyes, "Um, your food" She pointed at what she was carrying, "Are you not going to take it?"

Cam just ignored her and went out the doors.

Too bad Cam left in such a hurry because if he didn't he would have heard Alicia saying something between the lines that Derrick Harrington might have been where Massie was already, since she saw Massie's number in a text message to Derrick.

**…**

"Craig!" Derrick lifted his arms up when he spotted his Uncle's car driving towards them.

Craig Harrington grinned when he spotted his nephew. He got out of the car and gave him a bear hug. "This is how you meet me when you were gone for a year? No proper family dinner?"

"Hm, well school just started," Derrick joked, "I think my education is more important right now. Besides I was going to surprise you with a visit on Saturday."

"Sure you were." Craig messed his nephew's hair on purpose. It was then he finally noticed Massie awkwardly standing beside Derrick. "Oh, sorry I didn't see you there." He extended his arm for a handshake. "I'm Craig Harrington."

"Massie Block," She met with his hands. "I hear you're a great mechanic, from what Derrick told me."

"My nephew actually said something positive about me?" Craig laughed, "That's a surprise." He looked at Massie, "The Mercedes is your car right?"

Massie nodded.

"Okay, I'll change the flat and inspect it the same time. In the meantime why don't you sit in Derrick's car? I don't want you to be bored while waiting for the car to be fixed."

Massie followed his instructions and plopped herself into the front passenger seat in Derrick's car.

When he saw Massie close the door, Craig turned to Derrick and grinned at him, "A girl you're hanging out with and it's not Claire?" He arched his eyebrows, "You like her, don't you?"

Derrick blushed. "N-no I-I"

"Don't even bother lying, Derrick." He patted his nephew's shoulder. "You were always a terrible liar." He bent down to examine the flat, "She seems like a nice girl. And if you're here using your own time to help her, it must be serious."

Derrick bent down at the same level, "It's not. We're just classmates, she already has a boyfriend."

"Oh," Craig grabbed a wrench from his tool belt and started unscrewing the screws from the flat tire. "Well, there are always going to be _obstacles_ in your way for the things you want." He gave Derrick a lopsided grin, "Do you know who her boyfriend is?"

"Yeah," Derrick responded, at the same time, making a face. "Cam Fisher."

"Fisher?" Craig wrinkled his forehead, "that cocky little boy?"

"Yup,"

"Oi," Craig shook his head, "I thought she had better judgement than that-hey!" Derrick had wacked him on the shoulder. "What? Dealing with Fisher's parents firsthand, I wouldn't be surprised if he inherited their attitude."

"You can't inherit someone's attitude, Craig."

"You know what I mean." Craig started twisting the tire out. He began to frown, "I think I should examine her car."

"I thought you said you were doing that already." Derrick replied. He looked over where Massie was. She was preoccupied with her phone.

"No, I mean in more detail." He glanced at Derrick, "In my shop. I can change her flat tire here, but I think it would be better to examine her car at the shop." Craig stood up, "Go tell her that and drive her home."

"What?" Derrick eyed him. "Are you serious?"

"Yes," Craig nodded. "Do it." He winked at Derrick, "I'm just trying to help."

Derrick scoffed, "Yeah, in more than one ways." He saw the look his Uncle was giving him, "Okay, I'll go."

"Good."

Derrick walked to his car and knocked on the side where Massie was sitting.

"Is he done already?" Massie asked once she opened the door.

"That's the thing," Derrick started kicking with his heel, "He wants to examine your car in more detail. So he's planning to bring your car to the shop with toll truck."

"Oh," She looked around confused.

Derrick gave her a small smile, "I'll drive you home." He went around the other side before she could protest. Once he got into the driver's seat, he noticed Massie had shut the door. "It won't be at least a week before your car is finished."

"Kay," Massie buckled her seatbelt, "Before you start I just need to send a quick text message."

"Sure," Derrick put his car keys into the keyhole, but didn't turn it, until she was finish texting.

When she was, Massie gave him a nod, to signal she was done.

Derrick started the ignition and drove past his Uncle, he watch Massie give him a wave goodbye.

Once Craig could be spotted as a dot in the rear-view mirrors, Massie turned to Derrick, "You're really close to your uncle, right?"

"Yeah, you could say that," He grunted as he made a turn, "He's the only real father figure I had when I was growing up."

"Why?" Massie asked with interest.

"Because my real father," Derrick said in a low voice, "He abandoned my mother and me before I was even born. So, Craig, he was always there, from the moment my mom gave birth to me."

"Oh," Massie lowered her face. "Sorry,"

"It's okay,"

"Why did you just tell me that?" Massie glanced at Derrick, "I mean, it's pretty personal and you didn't need too," She looked at the window, the sky was becoming darker, "And we don't really know each other that well."

Derrick smiled at her once the car came fully to a stop, "Maybe that's the reason." His fingers drummed on the wheel, "Maybe I want you to get to know me and like I want to know you."

**…**

Cam listened to the voice message Massie had left him.

"Hi, Cam, I know you won't hear this until much later, but, um, as soon as your tryouts are over can you pick me up at Rosewood Street? My car got a flat, so I'm basically stuck here. That's all I wanted to say, and I hope you did well. Call or text me as soon as tryouts are over."

He put down his cell phone on the passenger seat.

_Rosewood Steet?_

He knew where that was; all he had to do was make a left turn.

And when he did, there was nothing.

The Street was empty; there was no sign of her car or anything.

"Shit," Cam stopped his car. He looked at his cell phone, _Aha!_ He received a new message while he was busy turning.

His face crimsoned when he read the message,

Massie: Don't bother picking me up. Someone else did. And_he_is driving me home.

**…**

He did not expect the silence to be this long in the car. Maybe Derrick made it too awkward for Massie once he boldly stated that he wanted to get to know her.

Still, the silence was killing him and he wondered if it was killing her.

He had to break the tension somehow. So Derrick decided to do it once they reached a red light.

"Can I ask you a question?" Derrick turned to her as they approached a red light.

"Sure," Massie shrugged, "it's a free country."

"Why are you with him?" Derrick frowned at her, "Cam, I mean." He pressed on the gas pedal as the light turned green, "Let's face it, he's not exactly, boyfriend material."

She became fidgety as she heard the question, playing with the car switch and then looking out the window. Massie finally turned to Derrick as they had turned left on a street. "Maybe despite tonight," There was a deep pause, "he's all I got."

Derrick became quiet, "that's so..."

"So... _what?_" Massie asked.

"False."

"Why?" Massie stared at him with curiosity, "why is that false?"

"Saying that Cam is all you got." Derrick responded. He made another left turn before spotting her house. All he had to do now was drive straight. "You have so much more things you have, that you don't know about."

"Like what?"

Derrick focused on the night sky he could see from the windshield, "_Me_," He turned to her and grinned. "I'll always be here if you need me, Massie. I just want you to know that."

"_Derrick_...," She didn't know how to respond, his answer surprised her since it was so genuine and simple. Despite not knowing how to respond, Massie's face sure showed it as she turned red from blushing. She turned away from facing him to let her blush die down.

Massie perked up as she saw the familiar landscape, "This is my house,"

"Okay," Derrick pulled over to a clear spot. He stopped the ignition to let Massie off. "Well, I guess I'll see you tomorrow?"

"Wait," Massie unbuckled her seatbelt. She then flipped her leather bag open grabbing her purple fuzzy pen out and small scrap of paper. She quickly jolted something down. "Here," Massie shoved the paper in Derrick's palms, "It's my cell number. I didn't give it to you."

"T-thanks," Derrick stuttered. He shoved the paper in his pockets deeply, not wanting to lose it.

"Well," Massie shrugged as she stepped out of the car, "it's the least I could do since you did drive me home."

He nodded and was about to start the ignition, when he suddenly heard a loud voice.

"Massie!" The guy's voice said, "Thank god, you're safe."

Derrick saw who it was from his rear view mirror, it was Cam. He watched Cam got out of his car and run towards Massie. The two were bickering back and forth. Although the two of them were just outside his car, Derrick couldn't make out what they were saying.

He did hear everything when Cam started shouting, "_He_ took you home? Are you serious?"

"Yes, Cam," Massie snipped, "_At least_ Derrick answered me when I phoned him."

"Look baby, I'm sorry," Cam actually appeared sincere, "I lost my phone after I changed into my regular clothes."

Massie didn't seem to buy it, yet, she still answered him. "Alright," She pulled Cam close to her, whispering into his ears. Whatever she said to him, Cam made a face.

"Do it." Derrick heard Massie command.

Cam sighed, "Fine,"

Derrick watched as Cam came closer to his car. He knocked on Derrick's car window.

"Thanks," Cam said in a snobby attitude through his clench teeth, as soon as Derrick rolled the window down. "Thank-you, Harrington, for, bringing Massie home safely."

"Yeah, thank-you Derrick," Massie smiled before he could answer back, she was right next to Cam who was holding her tightly, with his arms. She gave Derrick a big smile, to which Cam noticed. The two turned their backs on Derrick as they started walking towards her house.

Derrick started the ignition this time, and called after her before leaving. "Massie," He watched the two of them look behind.

"Yeah?"

"_I'll see you around_," He grinned, stating the exact same words she had said to him in the library, But, not in a form of a question, but as a statement of _certainty_. Not caring that Cam Fisher was there to hear it at all.

Massie smiled too, despite being near and feeling Cam's angry presence, "I'll see you around, too," She paused to give him a toothy grin, "_Derrick_."

* * *

><p><strong>Disclaimer: Lisi Harrison owns the Clique.<strong>

**I have to apologize. This chapter was actually put into the previous chapter, but since a lovely reviewer pointed out my mistake/problem, I decided to separated them. I hope that clears the confusion. I promise that this will not happen again!**

**I know I stated previously, that I wasn't feeling Plovert's crush on Claire, but I feel it's necessary because in the future, him and Claire will have a significant conversation that will stick through the two years of highschool. (but don't worry, it's a short-lived crush)**

**(BTW, If Dreams Could Come Alive/Mo, I decided that Plovert is modeled after skillz, Dempsey is modeled after Mouth and well, the rest you guys can still guess, ;o)**

**There's quite a few OTH references in this chapter, especially, Derrick's Uncle, Uncle Craig. But if you understand the references you rock! :) But if you don't, you still rock! Since you're reading this story. I hope this chapter gives off a vibe off a combination of the Clique and One Tree Hill, if it does, then that makes me very happy.**

**On a side note, if you're wondering why there aren't any Clam scenes, it's because the relationship of Massington will be a long road, with many obstacles in the way. Clam will not have as much, but still, in the future there will be obstacles for this relationship as well.**

**Read and review, please? :)**

**Title by Chief's song, 'Your Direction'.**


	8. There's A Reason

"_Well, what about you and Lucas?"_

"_What about us?"_

"_Oh, come on! Tortured artist meets tortured athlete? Talk about your obvious attraction."_

_-Haley James and Peyton Sawyer (about Peyton's and Lucas's relationship)_

**...**

The smell of the newly waxed and polished floor over the weekend was overwhelming as the smell was blended with the mixture of the various perfumes and colognes from students. It was about seven minutes before the final bell would ring to indicate that class would be starting. Packs of students walked pass the north hallway (it was the biggest hallway of the school) to get to their classes. Although, the horrid smell in the hallway wasn't bothersome to the cluster of students who stayed put. What was overwhelming for them was the fact if the post of the new soccer team was up or not.

A week had passed, and no word on who was in and who was out. Many were nervous and anxious, though, the nerves didn't stop the cluster of guys crowding around the bulletin board outside of Coach Davis's small office.

"Well, can you see?" Chris 'Dynamic' Plovert nudged Derrick Harrington in the ribs, "there should be a long white sheet." The two of them arrived late in the morning due to traffic, so they were, unfortunately, all the way in the back of the cluster. Plovert leaned forward, as if it could help. He almost lost his balanced, had Derrick not grabbed his arms.

"You wear glasses," Derrick let go of Plovert's arms, there was a trace of impatience in his voice, "Shouldn't you have better vision?"

"No." Plovert tiptoed, "You just said it. I wear glasses and you don't, which means, I have a worse vision than you since you don't need to wear one." He lowered his eyes, "I don't think it's posted up, yet." Plovert sighed, managing a small smile, "Coach has always been known to be late at everything."

Derrick bobbed, "Yeah." He shoved his hands into the pockets of his dark diesels, "I just hope I made it—" He gave out a yelp; Derrick felt someone's cold arm around his shoulder coming from behind. He turned to see his quirky best friend, Claire Lyons, smirking.

"Hidey ho, peeps." Claire smiled. She tightened her arms around her friends' shoulders, "No word on soccer, yet?" She tilted her head slightly to the right and arched her pale-blonde eyebrows, waiting for an answer.

"No, none,"Plovert replied first. He scanned the laminated wooden floor, then back up to Claire, a shy smile appeared on his face, "But if we do get in, you would be the first to know." Plovert poked Claire playfully on the arms. "You should know that by now, Lyons."

"I know that." Claire poked back, giggling; she motioned her head towards Derrick. "I don't know if my BFF, here, would be the first to tell me these type of stuff." She grinned at Derrick, teasing. "Massie would probably be the first one you would tell."

"No, I wouldn't." Derrick answered back, trying his best to sound convincing. He inspected Claire, noting that her side ponytail was lopsided; strands of her hair were sticking out, which didn't surprise him. Claire was the type who didn't fawn over her looks. Despite being in high school, she either wore little makeup or none at all. The majority of the time, she went au natural, and didn't fuss over about wearing non-designer labels; she would wear anything that was comfortable to her. Unlike the majority of the girls of the school, Claire didn't give in to the fascination or need of labels — a quality that made her original and stand apart from the rest. "I would tell you first Claire." He brushed her arms away from his shoulders, "Besides, I'm not even sure I made the team."

Claire dropped her other arm away from Plovert's shoulder, turning to Derrick. "Seriously, Der, you worry way too much." She wrapped her arms around him for a hug. "You'll get in, just wait."

Derrick smiled. Claire always knew how to cheer him up. Her positive attitude and outlook of life always made him at ease. "You're right, Claire." He wrapped his arms around her to complete the hug, "I'll wait, by the looks of it, we probably have to."

Their affection for each other was not confused by romantic love, by Plovert, he knew his friends well. Unluckily, Derrick's and Claire's affection for each other was misunderstood by a set of eyes that happened to glance their way.

**...**

"Why are we even here, Mass?" Alicia Rivera whined. She stood in the hallway, side by side with her best friend, Massie Block. The raven-haired beauty scanned the tight hallway; it was packed with the guys who tried out for the soccer team last week. She shook her head, her loose curls bounced as she did, "We aren't even on the soccer team."

"No, but Cam is."

"_Cam?"_

Alicia's dark brown eyes began to flicker in delight. Over the weekend, Massie IM'd Alicia about Cam's behaviour last week, she was angry about it. The way Massie said his name, it seemed as though the two had made up. And that perked an interest in Alicia; she wanted to get the latest gossip. Plus, their group of friends made a financial bet to see how long the two would stay angry at each other.

Twirling a strand of her curled hair with her index finger, "_Soooo_," Alicia said nonchalantly, "after last week's fiasco, how long did you guys take to make up?" She ignored the expression Massie was giving her and started blinking innocently, "What? I just want to know."

"Um," Massie's cheek turned a slight shade of pink as they walked closer to the group of guys, "yesterday."

"Yesterday?" Alicia crinkled her nose and forehead. She pouted her shiny red lips, "_Damn". _The words spilled out of her mouth too quickly, "I just lost fifty bucks to Kristen!"

"Alicia!" Massie's eyes grew. "Don't tell me and you and Kristen have been betting money on my relationship with Cam," She lifted her foot up, kicking Alicia on the leg.

"Hey," Alicia giggled, giving Massie an innocent look. She held her palms up in the air as if they could protect her from the kicks, "Bitch, please. Our entire group of friends have been doing it the moment you guys started going out." She walked backwards to dodge Massie's kicks, "You have to face the facts, Mass, you and Cam do fight a lot and then you guys always make up as soon as possible." She grinned evilly, "and that makes a great betting system and besides, it's a good way to earn easy money." Alicia exhaled, tapping her moisturized fingers against her pore-free chin, "Although I always lose money. You know for someone who's pretty stupid, Kristen seems to have good prediction skills."

She lowered her guard as soon as she saw Massie put her leg down, "So what did Cam do this time to make it up to you? Chocolates? Expensive dinner? Jewellery?"

"Um, well...he came over to my house," Massie's voice trailed, her amber eyes darted left to right making sure no one else was listening, "He then made dinner for us and then..."

Alicia knew her friend was still talking, her lips were moving fast, non-stop, but Alicia got distracted, and unconsciously tuned Massie out, when she spotted _him_, in the same hallway. Derrick Harrington was with Tutor Girl (A.K.A Claire….._something_) and Chris Plovert, the three of them were talking all huddled together, and Tutor Girl had her bony arms around both guys.

All of the sudden, Alicia remembered about last week. Massie, her best friend, lied to her about Derrick's and Claire's relationship and the more important fact, Massie, somehow, retrieved Derrick's cell number.

"Alicia?" Massie waved her hands in front of her face, "Were you even listening?"

"What?" Alicia jumped, "Can you repeat what you just said?"

Massie made a face, "No way, it's personal. Plus it's long." She pinched Alicia's arm, "Not my fault, you weren't listening."

"Fine," Alicia pouted, she pushed the strand of hair behind her ear. "Anyways, do I still have to be here? I'll be late for class, waiting for Cam, who's _your _boyfriend. " Before getting an answer from Massie, Alicia twisted the other way and strolled down. Her Michael Kors heels started making loud clicking noises, each time it came in contact with the polished wooden floor. She had to turn the other direction to advance to her history class. Alicia gazed at the view to the left, surprise to see Massie still following her. "I thought your Chem class was the opposite direction."

"It is." Massie laughed. "But I'm just shocked to hear, you, Alicia Rivera, wanting to go to class early." She dawdled around Alicia to block her from going any further. Massie raised her eyebrows, folding her arms across her chest, "What's the deal?"

"I don't need to tell you," Alicia grinned, "You won't repeat your story, so I don't need to say a thing." She made a zipper gesture with her hands.

"Look," Massie clutched Alicia's arm, immobilizing her, "I'll repeat it, if you tell me." She stuck out her pinky finger to close in a 'pinky-swear', a ritual, they had created when they were younger. While, they were in high school now, both Massie and Alicia always felt the need to do one when necessary. It was childish habit of theirs, but it was their own thing, something that they would only do with each other.

"Fine," Alicia said, she wiggled her eyebrows, glancing at Massie's pinky. "We haven't done a pinky swear for a long time." She locked her pinky with Massie's and the two shook on it.

"So?"

"Well, if you must know," Alicia fluffed her hair dramatically, "there's this cute guy in my class, whose been trying to talk to me for a while. I haven't given him any signals, yet, I might start today."

"What's his name?"

"Vader Smith." Alicia watched Massie laugh at hearing the strange name, "I know, it's a weird name," She cracked up a little herself, "believe me, Mass. This guy is gorgeous. He has tousled auburn hair and cerulean coloured eyes." Alicia batted her thick, luscious eyelashes, "and he's ripped."

"Oh, wow." Massie paused thoughtfully, "he does sound kind of cute." She stared at Alicia seriously, "What about Derrick?" She tugged on Alicia's sleeve, "Just last week you were all over him. So are you giving up on him?"

"No," Alicia stated boldly, "_Anyways_," The Latina chirped, changing the topic, she pressed her palms together. "About Derrick, Mass, are you sure him and Tutor Girl are just best friends?"

"Positive," Massie said without missing a blink, "why?"

"Last week, when you left for the art show, I saw her kissing him."

"Kissing?" Massie didn't believe it, "Like where? The lips?"

"No," Alicia gazed down to examine her nails, "on the cheeks."

"Maybe it was just a friendly gesture."

"Please, it looked like Tutor Girl was sucking the side of his face." Alicia rolled her eyes; she twirled her head at a random direction to seem dramatic. "They seem more than best friends—" Alicia gasped.

"What?" Massie shot her head up.

"There! Did you not see? They were hugging, embracing each other." She pointed at the direction she saw the two.

Glancing at where Alicia was pointing, Massie became confused. She raised an eyebrow, "Are you sure? Maybe you're just seeing things?"

"I have perfect vision. I know what I saw." Alicia flicked lint off her blazer, "and Tutor Girl and Derrick are _more _than best friends." She made a face, "Maybe you heard wrong when you asked them."

"I didn't," Massie shrugged, "But if you want, I can ask them again, during second period."

"Good," Alicia clapped her hands together in satisfaction, "This time you better be right," She playfully whacked Massie on the arms.

Massie smacked Alicia back, "Well if you want to hear it yourself, go ask them."

"I will," She grinned, "At lunch." Alicia opened her mouth, this time wanting to ask about why Massie's number flashed on Derrick's iPhone. "So Mass, about last week—"

_Brrrinnngggg_

The brunette jumped, startled. "Sorry, Leesh, I held you up too long. You better run to your history class to talk to the guy. I'll tell you the story about Cam, during lunch, okay?" She gave a quick wave and swiveled around, racing to the other direction.

Alicia flared her nostrils. Now she would have to wait to interrogate Massie later.

It was so cliché. But, damn, Massie was _soooo_ saved by the bell.

**...**

"So what's got you smiling today, Lyons?" Derrick threw his arm around Claire's shoulder; they were heading to their morning classes, Chemistry and Math, respectively, after the two of them waved Plovert off to his first class. "You don't usually look this happy in the morning."

Claire proudly displayed a toothy grin, "Well, before you guys came to school, Burns advised me that four new students joined the tutoring program."

"And that makes you happy?" Derrick crinkled his eyes, laughing out loud.

"Shut up," Claire sneered, she pretended to be angry with him, forming her brows into a glare, but then dissolved into uncontrollable giggles. "Well, yeah. Not that many people join the program. It takes up too much time and its hard work."

Derrick just shook his head, still grinning over the thought something simple as that, made Claire happy, "Anyone I know?"

"Uh, let's see," Claire bit the tip of her tongue, trying to remember who the exact students were that joined to become Westchester High's newest tutors. Her grin started to form into a straight line, if it was one thing that bothered her, it was not remembering things. Claire closed her eyes and tapped her foot against the ground while walking. The minute the she remembered, she snapped her fingers and her baby blue eyes could be seen. "I know the students are three seniors and one junior."

"Names?"

"The Junior is that overachiever Coral—I mean, Strawberry Mcadams," Claire blinked, "And for the seniors, I think their names are Syd Mcfadden, Cara Roe and…Landon, or maybe London?" She shrugged her shoulders, "I think the senior guy's name, is either Landon Krune or London Crane."

"Aah," Derrick simply said. He didn't really feel like carry on the conversation about tutoring, no offence to Claire or anything, but talking about anything related to tutoring made him sleepy. He decided to change the subject, "So are you still working at your parent's café every day?"

"Basically," Claire replied. She slowed down her pace and frowned a bit. "Although, I think something fishy is going on,"

"Huh?" Derrick's eyes bulged, "At the café?"

"No," She whipped her head once, defiantly and boldly. "I was talking about tutoring."

Derrick sighed, trying not to sound annoyed, since the two of them had just spent discussing about tutoring the last few minutes, they should have been done by now and moved onto another topic. Derrick's chocolate brown eyes flickered over the fire alarm that was nailed onto the wall and then back to Claire's face. Her expression changed. She appeared to be confused and worried.

"Okay," He used his other arm to grip his shoulder bag's strap, "What about tutoring?"

Claire bit down on her lower lip, "Well," She shifted the weight of her left foot to her right, "after Burns told me about the new tutors, she pulled me aside from the tutoring center."

"And?"

Her eyes started to dart back and forth mechanically, Claire leaned closer to Derrick, "She told me that Kemp Hurley wanted in the program, but he told her to keep it as a secret. So, Burns asked me privately to keep it under the wraps,"

Derrick's eye twinkle in confusion, "But you just told me about it,"

"I know," Claire looked down at her red-bitten cuticles, "But I only told you because I trust you. So don't you think?"

"Think what?"

"That it's fishy?"

"No," Derrick paused, "Why?"

Claire's mouth formed into an 'o' shape, nothing came out for seconds. She shook her head back and forth. "I don't know," She finally said, "I just don't trust him. Why would Kemp want to keep something simple as tutoring a secret?" Claire frowned and lowered her eyes. "Maybe he wants waste our time and screw around."

Derrick scratched his neck, as he took the information in, "Kemp may be annoying and sometimes a jerk, but I don't think he would do that. Maybe he's actually serious about getting help." His eyes left Claire's face for a moment and wandered into the halls, they were near his classroom, "Besides, Kemp is in one of my classes and let's just say he's not the brightest."

"Still…."

"Claire," Derrick gave her a reassuring smile, "Maybe the guy is actually serious. In some schools, the students have to maintain their marks in order for them to still be on a sports team. So, if Kemp does get in the soccer team, he would have to maintain good marks."

Claire fiddled with her zipper on her jacket, a small smile inched on her face, "I guess that's reasonable…."

"So did Burns tell you specifically that you have to tutor him?"

"No," Claire fastened her pace back to normal speed, "She just told me that Kemp would be spending more time at the tutoring center than other students. Burns said that any tutors who were free would get to tutor him."

"Oh," Derrick spotted his classroom, before he went in, he grabbed Claire's head and messed up her hair—even though it was messy to begin with—He grinned at her, "And _you _said _I_ worry too much."

"Hey," Claire scrunched her nose and pushed his arm away from her head, "You still do." She combed her hair with her fingers, "I only worry because I don't trust the guy,"

Derrick waved her off, "Right. After this period meet at the library." He step foot into his class, before fully going in, he whirled his head around to face her, "What happens if you have to tutor another person like him?"

"Please," Claire scoffed, "I wouldn't tutor another person like him, he's just an exception." She adjusted her footing and headed towards the stairs that led to the third floor, she glanced at Derrick before she ascended up, "This is a one-time thing only .I wouldn't tutor anyone in any sports, they're all too cocky, specifically the guys in _soccer_."

**...**

"Hey," Cam Fisher said softly, he had just arrive, since after re-parking his car, the boy checked if Coach had posted anything about the soccer team, when he finally found Massie. She came from the other direction from where the hallway was once packed with students. The boy wrapped his arms around her waist, pulling her closer to him.

"No posting?"

"No, not yet." Cam kissed the side of her head, "We'll probably have to wait after school." He grabbed her hand, twirling her into circles, "I'll walk you to your class,"

"It's on this floor though. Isn't your math class upstairs?"

Cam shrugged and started to yawn, "I've been late for that class so many times, and the teacher doesn't really give a shit anymore." He gave her a lazy smile, "besides, I haven't seen where your class is yet, and then maybe from now on, I'll just meet you there in the morning."

"I guess," Massie replied back, she walked forward, leading the way to Ms. Dunkle's classroom for the both of them, "Cam, can I ask you a question?"

"Sure,"

"Do we," Massie turned to her side, glancing into his mismatched coloured eyes, "do we fight a lot?"

"What do you mean?" Cam blinked at her, "Do you mean like argue and stuff?"

"Yeah," Massie nodded lightly, "But, I mean, do we fight or argue almost every day?"

Cam stopped in his tracks, paused thoughtfully, "I guess we do, but it's not really a big deal."

"It's not?"

"No," Cam gripped her hand harder, "I mean all couples fight, and if we don't fight from time to time, then our communication sucks. Plus, it's normal for us to fight. There would something wrong with us if we didn't fight, you know?" He gave her a lopsided grin as they started to walk again, "Alicia told you about the bet, huh?"

A sign of relief was shown on Massie's face. She began smiling sincerely, "Yup,"

Cam smirked, "Anyways, I think fighting is a good thing, we can express what we want to say and after were done, we make up right away," He suddenly reached for her back, pulling her to him, so their bodies came in contact, "besides, us fighting isn't all bad, especially since I love the way we made up last night." He started to chuckle, "Maybe we should fight more often,"

Stroking her cheek tenderly, Cam leaned down for a kiss, until he felt a Massie pushing him away. He backed away, surprised, "Mass! What the _hell?_"

"Oh my god," She whispered loud enough for him to hear, she glared at him, "Don't tell me you been pretending to fight with me, so we could just make up?" Massie gaped at him, her eyes burning into his, "This explains why we fought over the stupidest things,"

"I didn't say that," Cam brushed his hair, "All I said that I loved the way we made up yesterday that's all." He started chuckling once again, "You certainly liked it too," He reached for her waist, only to be hit by her, "Do you have your period or something?"

"This is unbelievable," Massie said in disgust, "Have you been trying to do this the whole time?" She stomped around him.

"Hey!" Cam yelled loudly, disrupting the classes that were in session, "It's not my fault you agreed to have make up _sex_ with me," He chased after her, "You know, we wouldn't even be fighting right now, if you just put out more."

Massie gasped, taking one last disgusted look at him, and went straight into her classroom.

"Shit," Cam watched her slam the classroom door in anger right in his face, "She _must_ be having her period."

**...**

_Tap. Tap. Tap._

The furry, flurry motion and sound of Massie's tapping of her pen in anger, distracted Derrick, big time, from hearing whatever Ms. Dunkel was explaining that was written on the chalkboard. Was it organic compounds or was it stoichiometery? Derrick glared at the chalkboard, it was just a big blur to him, whatever it was, he couldn't hear or concentrate of what was going on in front of him.

"Uh—Massie?" Derrick whispered, pleading to the girl, "Could you stop tapping your pen against the table?"

_Tap. Tap. Tap._

He groaned inside. She wasn't listening to him at all. Even more so, Derrick swore she was taping her pen even louder than before. He grumbled, but he understood why she was pissed. After all, Derrick heard—actually, he assumed the entire class had heard— the entire conversation between Cam and Massie, and what Cam shouted was personal and intimate about those two's relationship.

To be frank, Derrick wasn't sure if he should be the one to be angry or even slightly embarrassed. He liked Massie, and to hear about her and Cam's intimacy in the public made him uncomfortable and moody. But what could he do? He was just sitting in class.

_Tap. Tap. Tap._

"As I was saying— " Ms. Dunkel stopped her lecture, gazing squarely at the back where Derrick and Massie were seated. "Miss Block," She announced, the patience in her voice was being tested, "could you explain how I got this equation?" Ms. Dunkel pointed her red laser onto the chalkboard, where a balanced equation was neatly written. "Come up here and demonstrate to the class, how I manage to get equal number atoms of Na and Cl."

"What?" Massie finally became aware to her surroundings. She dropped her purple pen onto the table, it made clacking sound as it fell. Her cheeks started to become rosy coloured. "I'm sorry could you repeat that Ms. Dunkel?"

"As I was saying, _Miss Block_," Ms. Dunkel shook her head, "Can you demonstrate how I got this equation?" She pointed at the equation with her fingers this time.

"Um," Massie said meekly. "I can't,"

"And why not?"

"I wasn't paying attention."

Ms. Dunkel flared her nostrils, she folded her arms in front of her chest, "I won't tolerate with this, Miss Block," She yelled, "What is so distracting that you cannot pay attention?"

"It's—"

"I can answer for her, Ms. Dunkel." said Kori Gledman , a classmate who dubbed herself as the 'brianiac' of the school, raised her hand calmly. She wanted to be known as the preppy, cool teacher's pet. However, it didn't help she was known as a snobby bitch as well. "Before you arrived into the class, Massie was having a quite interesting conversation with her boyfriend, Cam Fis—"

"Just to get the damn point," The annoying Doug Landsman shouted while snickering, he brushed his long ash-blonde bangs to clear his view. "Massie and Cam's sex life isn't good, since Massie over there," He pointed at Massie with his long, lanky fingers, "since apparently, she doesn't put out much for Cam."

"Mr. Landsman!" Ms. Dunkel looked appalled. Nevertheless, she shook her head and went back focusing on Massie, "Whatever you have going on for you personally, it will not be tolerated in my classroom. You need to start thinking about Chemistry and less of your se—_social_ life," Ms Dunkel added dryly. "Unless, you, Miss Block, want to fail my class."

Massie turned crimson red, "But that's not fair!" She began grinding on her teeth, "it's my personal problem and the entire class knows about it, so if you were in my shoes wouldn't you be distracted?"

"That's not my problem, Miss Block. And even if it did, I would be focused on what the teacher would be saying."

"Yeah right," Massie muttered bitterly, "I bet you never had a boyfriend, before."

Ms. Dunkel narrowed her eyes at her student, "What was that?" She glared at the brunette, "Never mind, you just earned yourself a detention."

"But—"

"Detention, after school." Ms. Dunkel repeated firmly, she turned back to face the chalkboard.

Derrick shifted his eyes, glancing at Massie. She was mumbling to herself, from what he could read, she was probably calling a bitch. He frowned; it wasn't fair for the Chemistry teacher to give Massie a detention. If someone was yelling out personal things about him, of course he wouldn't be able to concentrate.

He raised his hands in the air.

"Yes, Mr. Harrington?" Dunkel's voice sounded tired. "Do you not understand something?"

The blonde cleared his throat. "No it's not that." He shook his head, "I just wanted to say I think it's unfair of you to give Massie detention."

"This doesn't concern you."

"Well it does, when I know you're not being fair." Derrick took a quick peek at Massie, who looked speechless; he gazed back at his teacher. "I mean, if you think about it, I would be distracted if someone was yelling personal things about for the entire class to hear."

Ms. Dunkel calmly put her chalk down, "Maybe you're right, Mr. Harrington."

Derrick smiled.

"If you were in a different classroom," the plumped teacher glowered, "if you wanted to converse more with Miss Block I'll gladly give you the chance." Ms. Dunkel displayed a bleak smile, "In _detention_, after school."

The blonde boy opened his mouth, but was quickly cut off by his teacher.

"Not another word from either of you." The scowling teacher grabbed her chalk once again, "I want silence!"

After that, the Chemistry class went smoothly with no other interruptions. Before the class knew it and after learning more about complex chemical equations the bell rang for next period.

As she was gathering her notes into her purse, Massie glanced over to Derrick, "Thanks for that, but you didn't really need to...since well, you have detention now too."

Derrick stuffed his pencil into his binder's pocket and stood up from his chair. "it's okay, she really wasn't being fair."

The brunette got up as well; she grinned fondly at him, "Walk me to the library?"

"That depends," Derrick shoved his books and wrinkled notes into his messenger bag. His soft smile was to let her know he was only teasing, "Was that a statement or a question?"

Massie smiled right back. Although, he couldn't tell if she was teasing or not, "whatever you want to think," She tiptoed around him to get in the front. She scampered forward leading him to the doorway of the classroom. But before, the two of them could set foot out of the classroom; Massie glanced over her shoulder to give a playful smirk, "To be honest though, it was more of a _demand_. I want company." She paused, "_Your_ company."

**...**

"This is so pointless," Kemp Hurley muttered to Cam, he was referring to Coach Davis plan for P.E today; the class had to practice their free throw and jump shots. "Why doesn't he just allow us to play soccer? Why does it have to be basketball?"

The two were in the very back of the line of their classmates. They were waiting for the others to finish showing their basketball skills to the Coach.

Kemp stood in the line stoically, waiting for an immediate response from Cam. Dune usually would answer first, unfortunately, over the weekend, the surfer had sprain his ankle from an intense surf practice and was now sitting on the bleachers watching them, glumly.

"Hey," Kemp smacked his friend on his broad shoulders, "You listening, man?"

"Yeah, I was." Cam sounded annoyed, his eyes were viewing everywhere except for Kemp's face.

"No you weren't," The brown haired guy whined, "You were just looking stupid, by grinning at nothing." He searched for the bleachers to find the reason why his best friend was grinning, although he couldn't find her. "Where's Mass? She would usually be up the bleachers by now."

"She's pissed at me," Cam sighed, "she's probably having her period today, since she's so fucking moody."

Kemp snickered, he inched forward since the line moved, "You guys had another fight? Should we start betting money again?"

"Shut the fuck up, you dick," Cam laughed, he pushed Kemp hard, causing his friend to crash into a classmate of theirs. "I don't really care if she's pissed me right now. I'll find a way to make her forgive me,"

"So that's why you were grinning?" Kemp rolled his eyes, "The way you looked, I thought something good happened to you."

"Dumbass," Cam snipped, he shook his head in disappointment, "I'm not grinning because she's pissed at me, I'm grinning because I know we'll makeup."

"Oh," Kemp became confused, "but isn't tiring that you guys always fight and then make up?"

"No," Cam started to grin once more, "especially not the _way_ we made up." He pulled Kemp by the sleeves, "Last night, after we made up, I manage to convince Mass to have sex with me."

"Oh shit," Kemp felt his eyes widened, he whistled, "You lucky asshole," He punched Cam in the arm, "I thought she doesn't give in easily," snickering obnoxiously, Kemp whirled his head, "Remember how long it took you to convince her to finally sleep with you for the first time?"

"I know," Cam sounded drained, while remembering the incident. The boy started to walk as the line was moving up, "She's actually pretty easy. All you have to do is find the right words to say," Cam explained, with a smirk painted on his face, "why did you think we took a long time to get to school this morning?"

"What did you say to her?"

"I threw a couple of 'I love you's' during our conversation and then casually suggested to having a quick one."

Kemp started to tug at his shirt, "Do you?" he asked softly.

"Do I what?"

"Love her." Kemp frowned. "Love, Mass, I mean." He paused, with his eyes darting back and forth, an expression that was only seen on him when he was recalling about something in the past. "This is the first time I ever heard you say you loved a girlfriend of yours."

He observed Cam, expectantly waiting for an answer. Though, the black-haired boy's mouth wasn't moving, at all. In fact, he was the one standing in the line, stone-like.

"Well, do you?"

"Why do you care?"

"Hurley! Fisher!" the Coach yelled at them, "stop wasting time and pick up a basketball." He glared at the two of them, with his piercing eyes, "Hurley you're first. Let's see your throws."

Kemp scurried to the right, before having the chance to carry on his conversation with Cam. He grabbed the first basketball that was on the metal stand that was beside Coach Davis. Kemp positioned himself on the center line, aiming for the basket and threw the ball. He missed.

Coach Davis scribbled on his notepad and shook his head, disappointedly, "Okay, now let's see your jump shot."

The brown-haired boy nodded, but started to scowl when he knew he had missed the shot.

"You're done for the day, Hurley." Coach blew on his whistle and pointed at Cam, "Fisher it's your turn."

"Wow," Cam approached Kemp, before grabbing a basketball, "I never knew."

"Knew what?"

"That you suck at soccer and basketball." Cam laughed loudly. He walked to the center line with the basketball tucked under his arms, staring at Kemp, "I already told you." He started dribbling the basketball between his legs, "My relationship with Massie is good. We fight and make up." Cam threw the ball.

_Swish._

"Bastard," Kemp muttered as he saw the ball go in, "but you guys fight a lot. And then make up, that's so tiring."

"If you say so," Cam grabbed another basketball; he jumped to make his jump shot, not even looking at the basket, but at Kemp instead, "so what if we fight a lot? At the end, we always make up."

_Swish._

"That's the _beauty _of our relationship."

**...**

Claire hummed to herself, while waiting for Derrick to show up at the library. After her math class had finished, she marched hastily to the library, in order to grab their favourite spot. It was a small room at the right corner of the very back of the library; the room was consisted only with two plush chairs, black painted wooden shelves that were nailed to the wall and a small rounded mustard coloured table that took the entire center space. When the two of them first discovered this room back in freshman year by chance, they dubbed it as 'the Trick' or 'the Tric', whichever spelling they preferred, since the room was pretty tricky to find. Mostly due to the door being the same colour as the walls of the library and the tall metal bookshelves partly covering it, plus the door handle was small. Entering the room for the first time, Derrick argued that it the room was where the all the old VCR tapes, DVDs were stored in, but Claire argued back that it was an old tutoring room. Nevertheless, they never figured out what the real purpose of the room was, it didn't really matter, since the room was a special place for them. It was their hangout, where they would spend time with each other talking about mindless crap or personal things for hours, only the two of them knew about it, they didn't even tell Plovert about it.

The pale- blonde glared at her watch, it couldn't be the right time, ten minutes ago, Derrick would have come by now. What was taking him so long?

She shrugged, resuming to her math homework. The past week, the teacher had been piling up on their homework for the probability chapter. Claire sighed to herself, she worked her way to figure out the answer for '1)a.' It was only the first class for the day and already she had a pile of questions to do, after this spare , she knew she would get an English assignment from Mr. Myner—since he did briefly talked about it before the weekend— and worksheets from Spanish class. After school, she also had tutoring, and if her family needed her help, she had to work in her family's cafe. It was only Junior year, and it was already stressful. Claire shuddered, as she thought about the stress she would have next year. Although, at least she could say, she was drama-free, and preferred it that way.

"So I was saying that—"

Claire perked up as she heard his familiar voice outside the room. Her mouth formed into a smile as the door slowly opened. "Derrick—"

And then she stopped. Her smile faded, as Claire finally noticed he wasn't alone. Massie Block was right beside him.

"Hi, Claire," Massie waved at her as she stepped into the tiny room. "Wow, you were right," The brunette turned to Derrick, "this place is secretive. I never noticed it before."

Claire shot him a look, when Massie was examining the room from top to bottom. Her innocent baby blue eyes turned dark, giving her best friend an icy glare.

"Uh," Derrick turned away from Claire, and locked eyes onto Massie instead. "I'll go get you a chair."

"No, it's okay. I'll go get one myself."

Peeking out the door just to make sure Massie was really gone, Claire swiftly turned to Derrick, "What are you doing?"

"What?"

She rolled her eyes, "Oh, don't act all innocent, _Derrington_." Claire dropped her pencil onto the table, "Why did you tell her about this room? This is _our_ room." She glared at him again, "We didn't even tell Plovert. And he's our _friend_."

"Well," Derrick glanced at Claire, his hands were shoved into his pockets, "Claire, Massie is, she's...my _friend_ too,"

"Derrick—"

"Hey," Massie's head peeked into the room, not knowing that she broke the two friends' conversation, "Sorry for taking so long," She stepped foot into the room, putting the chair on the floor, she stared at the two, "Did I interrupt something?"

Derrick quickly skimmed Claire, who refused to meet with his eyes, "No, nothing at all."

"Kay," Massie said, not entirely convinced. She set the metal chair she got, beside Derrick, by this setup, she was across from Claire. The amber coloured-eyed girl gazed at the table that was covered with papers scattered everywhere. She faced Claire, "Math, huh?"

"More like probability," Claire answered, she shuffled her feet down from the table, not to seem rude. Her eyes darted back and forth between the two people she was facing, she wanted to bring out a conversation for the three of them, but Claire couldn't think of anything to say. Granted, if it was Derrick alone, there would have been loud chattering by now, since Massie was here, Claire didn't know what to say to her.

"So um…" Claire tried; she bit down on her lower lip, which needed serious soothing moisturizing from her Eos lip balm. "How was Chemistry?" She blinked rapidly, if she remembered, Derrick did mention that the two were in the same class, in fact, he might have even mentioned that him and Massie were lab partners.

"It was….._interesting_," Massie replied first, she gazed at Derrick. The two began to giggle at some inside joke or at least something that did happen in the class, leaving Claire feeling left out.

"Yeah it was, wasn't it?" Derrick displayed his own cheeky grin.

After the laughter ended, Claire piped up. "Well," she said, giving her own cheeky grin as well, not adding much to the three way conversation, "that's good."

She watched the two of them bobbled their heads in agreement, deciding that it was a sign to work on her probability problems. Besides, Claire knew how much Derrick was dying to talk to Massie about anything. She zoned out on the two of them, though, what she gathered was that Derrick was the one who initiated the topic the two were talking about. Claire stole a quick peek, focusing on Derrick and Massie. Whatever they were talking about seemed enjoyable, since they were laughing pretty loud.

"Huh?" Derrick's forehead creased, he retrieved his iPhone from his back pocket, studying the screen. He stood up suddenly, giving an apologetic stare at the girls, "Sorry, I got to take this, it's my Uncle."

"Say 'Hi' to him, for me." Claire yelled after.

With the door shutting behind them, Claire searched the room like Massie had done. Now that Derrick went outside to talk to Craig, Claire realized that this was the first time she was alone with Massie.

_How awkward._

She didn't know what to really say to the girl. Even though they knew each other since freshman year, they never spoke with one another face to face, holding an actual conversation, alone. The earliest memory Claire could muster up from her brain was when she had accidently bumped into Massie after coming out of the washroom when they were both freshmen. She believed, she said 'sorry' and in return, Massie replied back with an 'it's okay'. And the conversation they had the very first day of the school this year? That didn't really count. Sure Massie did speak to her, but Claire was only included in the conversation since Massie thought her and Derrick were a couple, (which was so wrong in so many levels). Besides, Massie was more outgoing and social then Claire. She was the type of person who hung out with kids who were older than them by years, the type of person who went to extravagant parties or threw ones, she hung out with the popular students, and she was one of them. And Claire herself was introverted, quiet, but not shy. She was loud with people she knew, having only a few friends, but close ones. The two never spoke or hung out with each other due to their different spectrums.

Never, until now.

"You and….Derrick," To her surprise, Massie spoke up first, "You guys knew each other….for six years, right?"

"Yeah," Claire moved her arm that was resting against her cheek, "Six years," She shut her eyes tightly to allow the answer come to her mind, as it came, her baby blue eyes popped open. "Since fifth grade," She smiled, when remembering the memory, "When he chose to sit beside me."

Massie giggled into her palms, "Was it the same day he accidently got bubble gum stuck in your hair?"

She crinkled her nose, her eyes broaden, Claire could feel her cheeks flushing a bit, "How you know that?"

"Oh, he didn't tell you?" Massie said, her mouth widening each second that passed. "Derrick told me the story of how you guys met, and the gum incident." She grinned at Claire, trying her best to conceal an oncoming laugh, "it was last week when he told me."

"That jackass," Claire rolled her eyes, muttering, but then gave a smile to show Massie she was joking. She leaned forward, "I bet he didn't tell you the part where I punched him in the stomach during recess and he ran home in tears."

"Yeah, he didn't." Massie raised her eyebrows in shock, "He definitely left that part out."

In the instant their eyes met, they both burst out laughing. Clutching their stomachs with their hands, with streams of tears rolling down their faces, laughing at an incident that had been taken long ago, with time passing, Claire found herself enjoying Massie's company, maybe she judged the girl too quickly. She assumed the brunette was stuck-up and snobby – even to the extent of being bitchy – especially since the group of friends Massie hung out with was—particularly that Alicia Rivera—, but Massie, she was different, like Derrick said before, different, in a good way. They spent the next few minutes talking about their interests, and what classes they had next semester. As time passed, Claire liked Massie more and more; she found out they had the same taste in music, that they both hated eating eggplants and durian, that they both liked being in plays and acting, even to the point where Massie confessed that as a kid she wanted to be a singer, whereas Claire confessed into saying that she wanted to become a famous actress someday. Claire felt herself beaming when talking to Massie, from all people; she didn't expect that the two of them could actually relate to each other, given the major differences between them.

"It's really nice to know someone for so long," Claire grinned, somehow she managed to switch the topic back to Derrick again, "Like me and Derrick, we know what the other one is thinking at times."

Massie nodded, agreeing, "It is. Leesh and I knew each other since we were eight." She started to cross her legs, "I know we will have each other's back for anything."

"Yeah,"

A brief moment of silence passed through. Claire glared at her watch once again; Derrick was still on the phone after all this time. She glanced at the door and then back to Massie, who was fixated with her hair.

"He really thinks you're really special, you know."

"What?" Massie dropped her hands away from her strand of hair. "Who thinks that?"

The blonde raised her eyebrows in surprise, "_Derrick_," Claire said in an obvious tone. Everyone, at least everyone Claire thought, knew about his crush on Massie, it was that obvious. It was amazing that Massie didn't even figure it out.

"He does? Why?"

Claire quirked her eyebrows, pursing her lips at the same time. Unsure if she should tell Massie about Derrick's huge crush on her. After all, it was something personal for Derrick and really, it wasn't any of Claire's business, even if they were best friends.

"Well," Claire finally said, "This room, it was kind of mine's and Derrick's secret place to hang out." She sat up straight, "we never told anyone about it, not even our other friend. And he told _you_."

She watched Massie's mouth hang open for seconds, and then close. A sudden feeling of guilt started to take over Claire's body, maybe it wasn't a good idea to bring up Derrick's thoughts about Massie. If anything, it should be Derrick himself.

"I'm really jealous of your friendship, with Derrick." Massie blurted out, all of the sudden.

"What?" This time it was Claire to question. Had the brunette not heard the hint Claire said out loud?

"I am." Massie nodded her head, "He's a really good guy. And he seems like the type to be a great friend."

_Derrick? Friend?_

Claire frowned. "Wait. Didn't you hear what I said?"

"I did,"

The blonde suddenly, became hysterical. Massie was really clueless when it came to Derrick, which Claire found to be hilarious. His crush was so obvious anyone could see it, anyone except Massie for some reason.

Claire giggled some more, "Massie," her whole body shook with laughter, "Don't you get it?"

"Get what?"

"Derrick."

"What about him?"

"Derrick. He _likes_— "

The door of the room swung opened. Derrick shook his phone between the palms of his left hand, and stride to his chair, oblivious to the fact that Claire, was about to leak about his crush on Massie. "I didn't expect to talk to Craig for so long, sorry guys."

"No it's okay," Massie said, shooting him an understanding glance, "Claire was about to tell me something about you,"

"Claire?" Derrick's slump posture became straight. His chocolate brown eyes bore into her baby blue ones.

"Uh," Claire avoided their questioning stares by tugging on her crooked bangs instead. "I don't think I should be the one to tell you about it, Massie." She bit her nails, "Derrick should be the one to tell you,"

Massie was about to say something, judging from her opened mouth, but Derrick intervened.

"Actually I do have something to tell you,"

"You do?" Massie eyed him.

"Yeah," Derrick's cheeks started to turn to a shade of light pink; he lowered his voice and began speaking quietly, "but, um, outside." He led the brunette outside the room, before leaving; Claire saw an indescribable expression inched on his face.

Claire sighed. She put her foot up against the table, and bit on her nails even more. Although, she had to give out a satisfying smile, since she was right after all.

Best friends really do know what the other one is thinking. And Derrick just _proved_ it.

**...**

Swarms of students were gathered around the cafeteria in groups, couples or for some students, by themselves. They were either whiffing at the smell of the foods that were displayed or examining at the vast selections or lining up in the long line to pay for their lunches.

Alicia was doing neither. She was sitting at her favourite table in the cafeteria, table number 18, which happened to be in the center of the room. Table 18, was a special and favourite place of hers, and would always be, even if it was in shabby condition, splinters were starting to show up from the pinewood material. What made table 18 special was that it was where her group of friends first met and got together. The very first day of high school in freshmen year, Alicia remembered the day clearly. It made her smile when recalling that day since that was the day her, Massie, Kristen, Cam, Kemp and Dune _marked_ themselves on the table, when they all became friends.

Her newly manicured nails started to linger on one particular spot, it was where Alicia made a special and extra mark for herself, her first mark was at the very top of the table and at the very center. She marked herself by sticking on her own lucky stickers and her premade sticker, words that said LBR, (it meant 'Loser Beyond Repair', a saying she used to say when she went through a phase.)To the right of her first marking, was Massie's, a splatter of purple nail polish by Essie. At the bottom at the left corner was Cam's, he shoved a thin paper sample of his favourite cologne, Drakkor Noir into the wedges of the table and beside his, was Kemp's, wads of chewed up, dry banana gum. Kristen's was right below Alicia's and Massie's, her marking was written in sharpie, something Alicia heavily criticized since the smell of sharpie made her nauseous. Kristen wrote in black, 'KG + DB = LOVE', stating her love for her celebrity crush, David Beckham. And Dune's was at the bottom at the very right, like Cam, he shoved his marking between the wedges of the table; instead, he shoved a small fragment of his shark tooth from his necklace.

Alicia let out an audible sigh. Her fingers were still lingering over the specific spot. Her extra and special marking could not be seen on the top, as she wrote it under the table in secret. It was the third day of freshmen year when she wrote it; since that was the day she met _him_, Harris Fisher. Of course, way back then, Alicia actually thought she had a chance with him, he did go out on a date with her, then later in that year, rumors were swirling around that Massie liked him as well. At first, Alicia didn't believe them, although, after seeing Massie and Harris talking with each other comfortably numerous times in the hallways or outside the school, Alicia changed her mind, she decided to confront her best friend. And then she found out. Massie really did have a crush on Harris, even though her best friend kept denying it over and over, the brunette ended up lying to her face. And that hurt Alicia, because Massie never lied to her before. After finding out about the crush, the two of them almost broke off their friendship forever, from all the gossiping, rumor spreading and back stabbing they did, to one another.

Those memories made her winced. Alicia never wanted their friendship to be on the brinks again. They eventually made up the end of freshmen year as Harris was graduating and by that time, he was going out with his long-time friend, Angela Jagielski.

Though she wondered, if her secret and special marking was still there, this whole time. It could have faded by now. Alicia's curiosity got the best of her, she glanced around the cafeteria to spot where her friends where. Massie was lining up paying for her lunch that was teetering against her arms, Kristen was helping Dune by carrying his food and Cam and Kemp weren't here, still, probably at the gym as always. She took this chance and crouched under the table, she gazed up. It was still there after all this time, _slightly_. The marking that once said, 'A.R. + H.F.', was now 'A.R + H', Harris's last initials completely faded away. Surprisingly though, her initials were still bolded and the heart she drew with her bright pink sharpie—she was a hypocrite, who cares? Kristen wasn't there to see her write it,—was still intact. Alicia began to giggle to herself; a playful thought came to her mind. She grabbed her newly bought Gucci handbag and began to rummage through it. She knew her pink sharpie was in there somewhere. Finally, she found the sharpie in the very back pocket. Alicia untwisted the cap; she held the pen far away from her as possible. Once ready, she pressed her palm against the back of the table, and began to write one letter before 'H'.

She grinned, satisfied of what she wrote. Her marking was now, 'A.R. + D.H', in the very center of the heart she drew before. For some odd reason, Alicia felt this marking wasn't going to fade away. Maybe because she wrote it as a statement, instead of a prediction like she originally did. Alicia eyes widened, almost forgetting about one more thing to write under the table. She scribbled fast, and when she looked up, she liked what she saw.

Only time would tell if her markings would be proven to be statements and not predictions instead.

**...**

Massie became fascinated with her lunch, the $4.29 Caesar salad she paid for. Just a few minutes ago, she told Alicia about her night, yesterday, with Cam. She poked her salad with the plastic fork she was using and then looked up, studying her best friend's face after digesting the news – or story for this matter.

"Geez," Alicia masked her disappointed face, she put down her wooden chopsticks on top of the tray of her California rolls she bought, "when you said personal, I thought you meant something juicy happened between you and Cam," She flipped her shiny raven coloured hair, seductively and erupted in giggles, "Sex, is so _not_ personal."

"Well, yeah," Massie agreed, giggling as well, "Not for you, maybe, since you're a slut and all," She stuck out her tongue. "For me it is. I guess I'm not as opened as you—" She stopped midway as Alicia whacked her.

"You deserved that."

"Anyways," Massie waved her hands, gaining Alicia's attention, "how was your History class? What about the hot guy? Did you talk to him?"

Alicia scrunched her beautiful face, "_Ew_," She grabbed her chopsticks, dipping her California roll into soya sauce, "I'm so over that guy, he's hot, but his name suits him, especially the way he breathes." She popped the roll into her mouth, after some delicate chewing, she swallowed. "I don't like him. He's just like every other guy."

Massie cocked her eyebrows, "Meaning?"

"He wanted me to hook up with him, even though he already has a girlfriend." Alicia pouted, she slammed her chopsticks onto the table forcefully, "He wanted me to be, the _other girl._"

"Um," Massie cracked up, "Aren't you usually?" She took a small bite out of her salad, "Don't tell me you're starting to feel guilty now," Her eyes fluttered innocently, "Especially after all the hookups _you've_ done."

"It's not that," Alicia pushed her tray away, leaving two California rolls untouched, "I mean, hookups are fun, but I'm tired of it." She started to comb the hair that was behind her ear, "I just don't want to be the other girl anymore," Her eyes were fixed at a specific direction in the cafeteria, "I want to be in a meaningful relationship."

A coy smile inched on Massie's face, "What? With Derrick?" She peered at the same direction as Alicia, from where they were sitting; they had a very good view of him and his friends. Massie flicked her finger against Alicia's arm, after turning away, "You've been staring at him for a while now."

Alicia's brown eyes shot up, she gasped. "I have not!" Self-consciously, she began twirling her curls into her palms. "I mean, I like how he's so different from other guys, but I wouldn't give into him that easily. He's the guy. I'll make him come to me."

"How?"

"What else?" Alicia threw her hair, "by talking to him."

Massie narrowed her eyes suspiciously, "_Leesh_," She said slowly, "You don't even do that,"

"I did, too," Alicia replied, defensively, "Just last week, after the soccer tryouts." She drummed her nails against the table, "I even broke my own rules, and asked him to hang out with me." She lowered her eyes downward, remembering that at the end, Derrick said, _no_. "But he rejected my offer."

"Why?" Massie sounded genuinely curious.

Alicia gazed up, and stared directly into her amber eyes, she didn't know whether Massie was being sincere or playing dumb— something that the brunette was very good at— "Because of _you_,"

The brunette nearly dropped her fork onto the half-finished Caesar salad; it wouldn't have made a commotion since the plate was made out of Styrofoam. Playfully rolling her eyes, Massie talked in a low mock-serious voice, "What did I do this time?"

"Um," Bitterness could be heard in Alicia's voice, "How about the fact that you somehow manage to call and get Derrick's number, without telling me?"

"I only got it because we have a pro—," She clamped her mouth shut, not wanting to tell Alicia about her and Derrick's upcoming Chemistry project, well, at least, not now. Maybe when Alicia was calmed down enough to focus straight, she would mention the project. "He gave it to me. I only called him since he was the only contact left that I knew who wasn't busy or going to hang out at the diner."

"Oh," A wash of relief was shown on Alicia's face, though it quickly disappeared, "So, can I have it?"

"His number?"

"_No_," Alicia shot back sarcastically, "_Your_ number. Of course I want Derrick's number! Besides you said you would help me, get him."

Sighing, Massie pulled her phone out, she tapped the contacts list and tapped Derrick's name when she spotted it. "Here," She shoved her phone right into Alicia's face, "Now, you can add it."

"Thanks," Alicia squealed. "I mean it,"

Massie nodded. She grabbed her phone, placing it back into her purse. After a quick search, the girl retrieved an art magazine she got for free, from the show last week, throwing it onto the table. "Alicia, there is so much I can help you with, but, isn't this one thing you should do on your own?"

"Well, yeah," Alicia responded, she grinned giddily as she saved her newest contact onto her phone, "But, best friends always help each other, no matter what the situation is. Besides, you love being my spy, remember how we used to play that game all the time?"

"Huh," Massie glanced at her unfinished salad, poking at it once again, "So, why are you so persistent about Derrick?" She asked, hoping she sounded casual, "Usually, you would have given up by now and move onto another guy,"

Alicia's smile evaporated, her usual cheery expression changed immediately, once she heard Massie. She now, had a look of surprise and a slightest hint of concern on her face.

"What?"

"Do you like him or something?"

"No," Massie skimmed her art magazine, avoiding Alicia's lustrous dark brown eyes. After a quick read through on an article about pastels, her eyes finally met with Alicia's, "If you remember, I have a boyfriend named Cam."

"Good," Alicia seemed more at ease. Her brown eyes shone even more. She casted a quick glance over towards the good-looking sandy blonde-haired boy, her gaze was fixed on him for a while, but then diverted back to Massie. Alicia smiled sincerely, twirling her one curled strand somewhat flirtatiously, "Because maybe I want a boyfriend, too. And I want Derrick to be _it_."

**...**

While the wooden seats of the cafeteria chairs were unbearable and the stenches of the foods were sometimes gag-worthy, Plovert was smiling ear to ear. He was rehashing the verbal argument he got into with his accounting teacher, Mr. Loite, for Derrick and Claire. "So, I argued back, I was like 'What's the point of doing this when you're teaching it to us all wrong—" He stopped himself, a familiar figure was approaching towards their table.

"Don't stop now!" Claire shrieked, she pushed down her Evans water onto the table, about to take a swig from it, but decided to wait to hear the rest of the story first. She pouted at Plovert, "It was actually becoming interesting."

Derrick nodded in agreement.

"I would, but we have a guest." Plovert motioned his head straight to his friends.

Claire lifted her head up, Derrick whirled around, there they saw the beautiful Alicia Rivera, flashing them a sweet smile.

"Hey," The girl gave them a small, confident wave.

"Rivera," Plovert acknowledged.

Tilting her head innocently, "Plovert," Her dark brown eyes landed on Claire next, "Tutor Girl,"

Claire winced at hearing the stupid nickname; she opted to tell Alicia off, except, the Latina already moved on to Derrick.

Alicia lingered on Derrick for moments, checking him out up and down, her soft red lips formed into a delicate smile, "_Pretty Boy_,"

"What?" Claire squawked, before Derrick could even get a chance to respond. She crinkled her face, her lips started quavering, Claire laughed, "Pretty Boy? As in Derrick Harrrington?"

"Yeah," Alicia shrugged, placing her palm onto Derrick's right shoulder, as she crept closer to the boy. The girl looked amused, "don't you think so?"

"Um, no." Claire made a face, giggling, "In fact, _ew!_"

"You're not really a supportive girlfriend, Tutor Girl." Alicia said. She flipped her shiny hair over her shoulders with attitude. She squeezed Derrick's shoulder, gaining his attention. Alicia rolled her eyes towards Claire, then gazed at Derrick, "If I were you, I would have dumped her by now," She shot Claire a smug sneer, "I mean, what kind of girlfriend doesn't think her boyfriend is pretty, especially when they look like you?"

"We're not going out," Derrick replied swiftly, noticing the face Claire was making, she was probably going to make some sort of snarky, sarcastic comment about Alicia, and he didn't want a brawl right in the cafeteria. "Claire and I are only best friends."

"Really?" Alicia dark brown eyes lit up, her naturally pouty lips curled into a soft, smile. "Well, that's good."

"Why?"

The pretty girl lifted her hand off his shoulder, taking the empty seat beside him. Her face glowing as she swirled her head to face him, "then you and I can become boyfriend and girlfriend," She winked at him coquettishly, "_obviously_."

As Claire watched Derrick stumbled and stuttered some words to Alicia, out of annoyance, she rolled her eyes. "She is so annoying," Hissing to Plovert.

Plovert gave her a light nudge, "Come on, Claire she's not that bad. Alicia is just high maintenance."

"Are you kidding?" Claire nudged him back, harder. Disbelief was written all over her face, "Alicia Rivera is not high maintenance, she's annoying. And she's faker than a Barbie." She glared at Plovert, who knew the glare was more for Alicia than him. "Did you hear her voice? Anyone can tell she's being fake."

Plovert had his mouth open, yet, nothing came out, as Alicia's devious giggles was loud enough to distract them. He looked across, "what is so funny?"

"Derrick." Alicia purred. "He was telling me about this joke about a—"

"—Rubber band and polar bear," Claire said in a deadpanned voice, fighting the urge not to lash out, "it's not even a joke. You're probably the first person who laughed at it."

The Latina crossed her arms defensively. She countered back by shooting Claire a mischievous smirk. "Don't you have a sense of humor Tutor Girl?" She fluttered her eyelashes as she turned her attention back to Derrick, "I thought it was funny, Pretty Boy."

"Finally," Derrick replied loudly, gratefully. "Someone finally gets my sense of humour." He grinned at her, though shyly, "You're not so bad yourself," The boy paused purposely, "_Pretty Girl_."

"Oh my god," Claire groaned, it slipped out by accident, then again, she didn't really care that Derrick and Alicia heard it all. She stood up from her seat abruptly, not wanting to be near Alicia's unbearable presence any longer, "I've got to go."

Plovert glanced up, worried. "You didn't hear the rest of my story."

"It's okay, you can tell me about it later," The blonde girl responded through her clenched teeth. She scuttled away before hearing the rest of Plovert's sentence. Though, what she did manage to hear was Alicia's loud, obnoxious voice.

"Wow. I don't understand how you two are even best friends. First, she implies you're ugly and second, she doesn't get your sense of humour." There was a long pause, "She _shouldn't _even be _talking_."

**...**

Kristen Gregory hands were full as she made her way over to the usual table she and her group of friends sat at. She was carrying two full trays of hers' and Dune's lunch, since the surfer boy injured his ankle over the weekend. Luckily, even with the trays teetering and tittering back and forth, Kristen had good balance, from all the cheerleading practice and the soccer games she used to play when she was younger.

"Hurry up Dune," Kristen whined, she looked behind her, to see the guy hobbling as he tried to walk. "Our lunches are going to be cold."

"I'm trying, Kris," Dune shot back, he gripped the crutches with his hands, "I'm still not use to these crutches, yet." He hobbled some more, but came to a full stop as he thought of something, "Our lunches aren't going to get cold, Kristen. It's sandwiches."

"Just _hurry _up,"

Dune rolled his eyes, muttering to himself, trying his best to catch up.

Kristen frowned at the sight of him, though she continued to stride hurriedly towards table 18. Finally as she got there, she laid the trays down on the table. Much to her surprise, only Massie was there, the brunette already finished her lunch, as Kristen spotted the empty plate; her friend wasn't doing much except reading.

The blonde slid into her seat, opposite of her friend. She leaned forward to pull her tray closer to her, snatching her sandwich into her hand and then cocked her head to the side, puzzled. "Where's Alicia?"

"Oh," Massie's entire body shot up, her eyes gazed away from the magazine article and onto Kristen's bright aqua orbs, "I didn't think you guys would come so soon." She pointed straight with her fingers, "She's over there, talking to Derrick Harrington."

"Really?" Kristen squealed excitedly, "That's the guy who's super-hot, right?"

Massie chuckled at her friend's behavior. She flipped onto the next page of the magazine, "Yeah, but I wouldn't consider to him to be 'super-hot', maybe more like hot," She paused, "well actually, his freckles and eyes make him cute, and when I think about it, maybe he's more of the gorgeous type , no actually he's more the hot type, like you said—" Massie looked up, realizing that Kristen was still staring and listening with intensive curiosity, about the rambling of Derrick's looks. All of the sudden, she felt guilty, she already had a boyfriend. How could he just rave and rant about another guy's looks? Massie pressed her palms onto the glossy magazine's pages, "He's _okay_, actually."

"Oh," Kristen simply said, not picking anything from her friend's rant, "If Leesh wasn't into him, I would go for him,"

Massie giggled, she went back reading, "But you have Dune, already,"

"No, I don't," Kristen shook her head, she quickly threw a glance behind her, Dune was faraway. "He's just a guy who's my best friend." She made a face, finding the right words to say and put together, "Dune's my best _boy_ friend." Kristen smiled, pleased, at hearing the words come out of her own mouth, it sounded right.

"_Kris_," Massie sounded astounded, she stopped reading, looking up, "Do you really not know?"

"Not know what?" The blonde asked as she nibbled on her sandwich. Kristen put down her sandwich, frowning, "Please tell me. You and Alicia never really tell me anything."

"That _Dune_….," Massie rubbed her chin with her index finger gingerly, she thought of how she could put it into words delicately, but then again, _this_ was _Kristen._ Kristen was pretty slow at noticing things, sometimes Alicia and Massie would discuss how someone would had to hurl a brick at Kristen's head, just so she could know what was going on.

"Is there something bad happening with Dune?" Kristen asked frantically, she bit down on her lip, appearing very worried.

"No, Dune's fine." Massie lowered her eyes, wondering how she could explain the most obvious crush in the world to her naive friend. "That Dune, he," She paused, leaned forward for Kristen to hear, "he _likes_ you.

Kristen smiled cheerfully, her worried expression disappeared. "Is that all?" Her head was tilted in an angle, her cute smile was becoming wider, "I like Dune, too!"

The brunette grimaced, "You do understand the context of his liking for you, right?"

"Sure!" Kristen babbled bubbly, "Dune likes me and I like him. And that's why we're best friends."

"Kris, that's not what I meant." Massie was about to explain in more detail, except Dune had finally came over.

"No need to stop talking because I'm here." Dune said, he leaned his crutches against the side of the table and slowly sat down onto the seat. Once he adjusted to a spot that was comfortable for him and easy to get out, he grinned at his friends, "Unless, you guys were saying something horrible about me." He joked.

"Oh no," Massie waved him off, she shook her head, as if discussing about him was possible, "We weren't saying anything about you,"

"Wait," Kristen pursed her lips outward, she raised her palms up in the air, whirling her head to Massie, then Dune. "We were discussing about you, but not in a bad way, Dune."

The amber-eyed girl opened her mouth, "Kris, I don't think—"

"We were just discussing on how you like me." Kristen interrupted. She displayed Dune, who was blushing madly, her white pearly teeth. "And how I was saying to Massie I like you, too!"

Dune remained beet red, "Y-you do?"

"Yeah," The blonde nodded vibrantly, "I like you, Dune."

He was still flushing red, yet, Dune somehow managed to present a confident smile, "Kristen, I liked you for a long time."

"Me too!" Kristen slapped herself on the chest, utterly amazed at hearing the coincidence; she was too busy focusing on Dune, to notice Massie's expressive antics. "I liked you for a long time, that's why we're _best_ friends."

Whatever confidence Dune had in him that moment, vanished. His smile disappeared, replaced with sulk. His straight posture, turned slump. "Best friends?" He repeated slowly, making sure what he heard wasn't a mistake, his voice cracked a bit, and his eyes didn't meet Kristen's, but at his lunch.

The ditzy girl placed her hand over his arm; beaming at him, "Yeah. We like each other for a long time, which is why we are best friends." She began initiating another topic to add to their dire conversation, not aware of the disheartening one word answers he gave her.

Suddenly, pushing away from the table, Massie gave an apologetic expression to the both of them, "I got to go the washroom," she said excusing herself. She slid out the seat, grabbing her purse, about to leave, had it not been for Kristen, who was yanking on her arm.

"Can you give this back to Alicia, while you pass their table?" Kristen was smiling innocently, not knowing she had hurt Dune. In her moisturized palms was a bottle of grey nail polish. "I borrowed it from Leesh," the blonde explained.

"Sure," Massie quickly swiped it, dumping the item into the front pocket of her purse.

Knowing she was far away from Dune and Kristen, Massie giggled hysterically. Seriously, how could Kristen not know the major and gigantic crush Dune had and harboured over her? Dune was so sweet and kind to her friend. The boy helped her with her homework just to spend time with her; he even took care of Kristen whenever she was sick. One memory that stood out that _spelt_ crush was when Dune, without a thought, jumped into the ocean, saving Kristen from drowning.

Dune _always_ helped Kristen and saved her from incidents.

Massie just shook her head in amusement; his crush on Kristen was so obvious anybody could see it, with the exception of Kristen of course. His crush was so blatant, that it was right in front of everybody's eyes.

A guy who would do anything for a girl and Dune fit that description perfectly.

The girl titter some more, in shock that Kristen couldn't figure it out.

A guy, who saved a girl from things and wanted to spend more time with her, _yelled_ out crush. And still, her bubbly friend could not see it.

It was just so _funny._

* * *

><p><strong>Disclaimer: Lisi Harrison owns the Clique<strong>

**Is it sad to say I started this way back in April? I meant to publish it back in May, but then that's when I got my dog. **

**This chapter was _way_ longer, I had to cut scenes out, but hopefully the length of this chapter makes it up to you guys. c:**

**It's a bit boring, though, this chapter is necessary since you get to see Massie/Claire's first real interaction and blooming friendship, Cassie's dysfunctional relationship, Alicia/Derrick's first positive conversation, future tutoring references and more insight to Kristen and Dune.**

**Title comes from AA Bondy's 'There's A Reason'.**


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